To Love The Enemy
by unpoisson
Summary: Katniss Everdeen volunteers as tribute for District 12. She has come to face the fact that she will most probably die in the arena. What she didn't count on was that she'd be falling in love with a certain career, or that he'd fall in love with her back. Will they make it out of the arena? And will their love stay strong no matter what the Capitol throw their way?
1. Chapter 1: Goodbye

**Hey guys! I've based this story on a poem I wrote for school last term, hopefully the story will portray it good enough! So heres my poem:**

I look into the eyes of my lover;  
As he gazes upon me,  
The key to my heart lies with him,  
Destroying him is the only way to hurt me.

I look into the eyes of my enemy;  
And see the hatred building up beyond thee.  
At times my heart feels nothing,  
For the man standing before me.

I look into the eyes of my lover;  
And the eyes of my enemy.  
They look at me with pure desire,  
And emptiness as deep as the sea.

I look into the eyes of my lover;  
Before they change to those of my enemy.  
Constantly flicking backwards and forwards,  
We give a new meaning to a love hate thing.

* * *

"Primrose Everdeen" Effie's voice carried out through the crowd of nervous children. Most of the girls sigh out of relief, surviving another year was defiantly something to celebrate. I was not one of them girls. I was the girl that was about to do something that was hardly ever known about around here. I was about to make myself the most wanted person for these games. I was going to be the first female volunteer from District 12; and probably the last one in a while.

"I volunteer!" I screamed, everyone turned around and gasped at me. I held my head high, forced myself to show no emotion and continued "I volunteer as tribute"

instantly Peacekeepers surrounded me, trapping me so that I could only walk forwards towards the stage. Prim was already running to me, screaming "NO!" at the top of her lungs. As I walked past the boys I saw Gale with a single tear streaming down his face. He knew as much as I did, I wasn't coming back.

Gale moved towards where Prim was running and scooped her up in to a tight embrace. She was sobbing on to his shoulder as I mounted the steps to the stage.

"Come dear, tell us your name" Effie's voice tries to sound comforting as she pushes me to stand in front of the microphone.

"Kat- Katniss Everdeen" my voice comes out as only a whisper, but thankfully the microphone is able to magnify the volume.

"Well I bet my buttons that that young girl was your little sister" she jokes, trying to get me to loosen up. "Now for the boys"

She walks over to the other bowl and dramatically places her hand into it, pulling up a single piece of folded paper determining one boys fate.

"Peeta Melark" she calls out.

The crowd of boys turn to the bakers son. As he get escorted to the stage I remember who he is, and exactly what he has done for me. Giving me a single loaf of bread that saved not only mine, but my families lives. And now he's my enemy, great!

Effie congratulates us both as Peeta and I shake hands. Both of us look in to each others eyes, knowing there was a big possibility that we was going to have to kill one another. Peacekeepers, Effie and Haymitch follow behind us as we walk in to the Justice Building. These next 4 minutes would be the quickest of my life. Seeing my mother and Prim for the final time, and probably Gale too.

* * *

"2 minutes" a Peacekeeper calls as Prim and mother walk in.

"Prim!" I cry as she leaps in to my arms for a hug.

"Katniss, try to win. Try to win for me, come home" she murmurs in to my ear, some of it muffled by her sobs.

"I'll try I promise" I reply. I look over to my mother, she too has tears running down her face. "Stay strong for her okay, Gale will hunt you food, you can sell the goat milk for money and other things. You can survive without me." I ramble on sounding more like a mother than she does. "And don't you dare leave her like last time. Prim's not strong enough for that. You're all she'll have"

"I love you" mother whispered in to my ear as she pulled me into a tight embrace.

"I love you mother" I said at the same time the Peacekeepers made them leave and Gale entered.

"Hey Catnip" he smiled at me, I loved having him as a best friend. He could lighten up any dark day.

"Hey Gale" I threw him a week smile back.

"You know, you've got a good chance. If you manage to get a bow" his face looked more serious now "And you can hunt. So you'll have food. You'll come back Catnip, I know you will" Gale is in front of me now, looking straight into my eyes; tears streaming down both of our faces.

"I'll miss you Gale"

"I'll miss you too Catnip" and with that, he left.

I forced myself to stop crying, knowing that I would be filmed going to the train. I defiantly didn't want the whole of Panem seeing me cry. Especially the other 23 tributes. I followed the Peacekeeper to the car that would take me to the train. I have never been in a car before. We always walk around on foot in the seam. I've only ever travelled in a horse and wagon once as well, on my way back from collecting my fathers medal. The mayor allowed me to travel with him. I reckon he only did it because I was friends with his daughter, Madge. Madge, another person I wouldn't see again.

The train looks lovely. There's really no other words to describe it inside looked just like what a posh house would. Or what I thought a posh house would look like. Wooden floors, dinning rooms, sofas, TV's, everything you could dream of. I suppose it's only fair to give the tributes a nice last few weeks, since there was only going to be one that would actually return and get to live like this. I knew for a fact that it wasn't going to be me living the dream.

* * *

**Thanks for reading this, it means quite a lot that you've gotten to the bottom!;) please review it gives me such a boast for my writing, I love you all x x x**


	2. Chapter 2: It's An Alien World

**Thank you to all that are giving this story a go! Hope to see you at the bottom :-)**

**Chapter 2: It's an alien world  
**

"_You'll be fine Prim, your name wont be reaped, it's only been put in once" I said to the trembling girl clutching on to me. _

"_Promise?" her voice was cracked and didn't sound anything like the girl I knew._

"_I promise" I said with all the enthusiasm I could. There was no way my little Prim was being reaped, the odds are defiantly in her favour. _

"_Go be identified and put into the 12 year old section and I shall meet you back here once all of this is over" I said before handing my hand over to the Peacekeeper so she could prick my finger. "I love you Prim"_

"_I love you too Katniss" _

_I waited with all the other nervous 16 year olds, we didn't bother trying to make small talk with the people closest to us. There was really no point._

_The seal of Panem came on to the screens just as Effie Trinket walks onto the stage. "Welcome, welcome" her voice was laced with a Capitol accent. I knew that if I was stood with Gale we'd be laughing our heads of whilst one of us imitated her. "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favour!" she rambles on about how it's such a privilege to be here, how the2 tributes will be representing District 12 and that they should try to keep positive. Positive? How can you stay positive knowing you only have about 2 weeks to live? But that's what its like, the people from the Capitol don't understand. They've never had to offer up 2 children for slaughtering. They've never had to watch friends die. _

"_Well Ladies first!" Effie is good at keeping her voice bubbly, I wouldn't be able to do it. As she crosses over to the glass bowl and places her hand in the crowd of girls take in a collected breath. You could hear a pin drop, I feel sick, please don't let it be me. Please not me._

"_Primrose Everdeen" _

I wake up sweating, the covers have fallen to the floor- obviously from the moving around I've been doing. It's okay I keep repeating to myself, it's okay. It was only a dream. I can feel that the other side of the bed is cold, automatically my fingers stretch out in search for Prim. Nothing. She must have had bad dreams and gone to mother. I sit up and properly open my eyes, taking in the different surroundings. That's when I knew. I was a tribute for the Hunger Games, the dream I had was reality. A single tear streamed down my cheek as I came to grips with the fact that I would never see Prim or mother again. As I got out of bed I saw an outfit ready and waiting for me to put on, when I walked closer towards it you could see a note hanging off the hanger.

**Take a shower first and meet us for breakfast.**

Showers are weird things, I'm used to just bathing in cold water. Not having warm water sprayed at me with the option to add scented soaps and changing the water pressure. I washed my hair quickly and scrubbed all the dirt and mud off my skin. Effie should approve. After drying myself I quickly braid my hair in my normal style.

I put on the outfit that has been laid out for me, dark green shirt and trousers, simple enough. Finding breakfast was easy, I just followed my stomach. Peeta, Haymitch and Effie were already there sat around a table. No-one apart from Haymitch had started yet, I think it was quite sweet that they waited for me.

"Good morning Katniss" Effie's voice was as bubbly as ever, she motioned with her hand for me to take the seat next to Peeta. The moment I slide into my chair I'm served an enormous platter of food. Eggs, ham, piles of fried potatoes. A tureen of fruit sits in ice to keep it chilled. The basket of bead rolls they set in the middle of the table could feed my family for weeks. In a glass beside me is some orange juice. I know its orange juice because I've tasted it before. Only once when my father brought it home for New Year's Day. In a cup there's a rich dark liquid that I've never seen before.

"They call it hot chocolate" says Peeta, "It's quite nice actually"

I take a sip of the liquid and it instantly warms me up, Peeta's right, this stuff is nice. After draining my cup of it I started to tuck into the eggs, ham, potatoes, fruit and bread. When my stomach feels like its going to explode I lean back in my chair. Peeta is continuing to eat, dipping rolls into his hot chocolate. Haymitch isn't eating at all he's just knocking back a red coloured drink which he keeps thinning with a clear liquid from another bottle. No wonder we don't get any tributes return home, with Haymitch as there mentor I'm surprised he even gets to the Capitol in time for the games.

"You're supposed to give us some advice?" I say to Haymitch.

"Here's some advice, stay alive" he says before bursting out into laughter. I exchange a worried glance with Peeta before I remember he wants to kill me now.

"That's really funny" Peeta says as he reaches out and knocks the red coloured drink to the floor, the glass smashing at the impact and the drink splashing up Haymitch's leg. "But not to us"

Haymitch stares at Peeta's hand for a second compensating what just happened, then punches Peeta in the jaw, knocking him out of his chair. When he turns back to his spirit bottle, I reach for my knife and drive it into the table between his hand and the bottle, barely missing his fingers. I brace myself for a hit like Peeta got but instead just see Haymitch with a smirk on his face.

"Did I actually get a pair of fighters this year?" he says as Peeta rises from the floor and grabs some ice from under the tureen. "No let the bruise show, people will think you've gotten into a fight already"

"But its against the rules" Peeta questions as his hand filled with ice hovers over the red mark appearing on his jaw.

"Only if you get caught, having a bruise will make people think that you've been in a fight and haven't been caught, even better" Haymitch explains through mouthfuls of bread. He turns to me "Can you throw that knife?"

I'm better with a bow and arrow, but I've thrown a knife a few times as well. I know that if I want to make an impression on Haymitch it's now. I yank the knife out from the table, get a good grip on the blade, and then throw it at the wall. I was only really hoping to get a good solid stick but the blade wedges in between to panels of wood, making me look a lot better than I am.

"Well maybe we'll be coming home with an extra person after all Effie" he say to her, she smiles back but you can see on her face that she's angry with the way Haymitch is behaving. "Okay we'll make a deal, you wont interfere with me drinking and I'll stay sober enough to help you" Haymitch says to us, "But you have to do exactly what I say."

"Alright then" Peeta says immediately, answering for the both of us. It wasn't a good deal, but it was better than what we had a few minutes ago.

"So what do we do in the arena? What strategies do we use?" I ask but Haymitch cuts me off.

"Slow down sweetheart, one step at a time. We're now about to pull into the station and you will be took off to your prep teams and pampered. You wont like what they do, but no matter what, don't resist."

"But-" I begin to say, but again he cuts me off.

"No buts, whatever they want to do, let them" his voice sounds sterner, something almost father like. You know, when they tell you to do something you don't want to do, but you do it anyway because you know they have your best interests at heart.

Haymitch picks up his spirit bottle and walks out of the dinning car leaving Effie, Peeta and I sat around the table as the windows go black.

"We've entered the tunnel, nothing to worry about" Effie explains seeing the worried look on Peeta's face. The tunnel that runs through the mountain is the only way into the Capitol. The mountain itself runs as a natural barrier between the Capitol and the eastern districts. Its almost impossible to enter from the east without using the tunnel. That's one of the main reasons my being a tribute. The rebels had to scale the mountains in order to gain access to the Capitol, which made them easy to pick of by the Capitols air force.

Peeta Melark and I stand by the window as we pull into the station, a crowd of people are gathered at the edges of the platform. The only space is a small walkway that is obviously for Peeta and I to walk down, followed by our escort and mentor. We exchange nervous glances to each other before returning our gaze to the alien world outside the window.

* * *

**Thank-you once again! I promise that Katniss will meet Cato in the next chapter, but i can't promise it will be love at first sight. That stuff only happens in fairytales or Twilight (no offense to those who are Twilight fans) Please please please review! It gives me such a boost! Love to you al **


	3. Chapter 3: The Girl On Fire

**Hey guys! So as i promised, there is a bit of Katniss/Cato interaction at the end, not much but there is some! See you at the bottom!**

**Chapter 3: The Girl On Fire  
**

Externally I look like I'm loving the pampering that's going on at various different places of my body. Internally I look like I'm about to murder someone. I grit my teeth as Venia, a woman with aqua hair and golden tattoos above her eyebrows, yanks a piece of material that takes away the hair that lays beneath it. "I'm sorry, but the next one is the last one" she says in her stupid Capitol accent. Why do they always go high pitched at the end? Why do the always pronounce 's' with a hiss? These people confuse me. The remaining hairs on my legs are uprooted with a quick jerk or her arm.

I've been in the Remake Centre for at least 3 hours, my stylist doesn't want to see me until the obvious problems are addressed. My body has been scrubbed down with some gritty soap removing layers of skin in the process, my nails have been filed into uniform shapes and my legs, arms, underarms, torso and bits of my eyebrows have been ridden of hair.

"You're doing well" a man in my prep team, Flavius says. "A whiner just makes the whole thing unbearable! Grease her down"

Venia and Octavia, who's skin has been dyed the colour of pea green, rub a lotion onto my skin that soothes the irritation. "You almost look human now" they say, and they all laugh. "Lets go call Cinna" Venia says before the whole prep team exit through the door, leaving me alone in the white walled and floored room.

I force myself to leave the robe where it is, I had been allowed to wear it for periods of time during my 'remake'. Knowing that Cinna would just tell me to take it off again the robe stayed off.

Th door opened and a man who undoubtedly must be lost walked in. He was the first person who looked normal. He didn't have dyed skin, tattoos, wild hair colours. He was just normal. His close-cropped hair seamed to be a natural dark-brown. The only thing that I could see that wasn't normal was the gold metallic eyeliner that had been put on by a steady hand. It brings out the flecks of gold in his green eyes.

"Hello my name is Cinna, I'm your stylist." says the man that just walked in.

"Hello"

"Just give me a moment" he says, and begins to circle around my naked body. Taking in every inch, every curve, everything. I resist the urge to cross my arms over my chest. "Who did your hair?"

"My mother" I say.

"It's beautiful. It really complements your faces profile, she has very good fingers" he replies. I smile at his praise for her work, knowing that she would be blushing and telling him "Its not that good".

"So how long have you been a stylist for the Games, I don't think I've seen you before" I ask while he circles my body for the second time.

"This is my first Games" he replies ever so quietly.

"So they gave you District 12?" my question is laced with sarcasm, this was typical of the Gamesmakers. Give the new ones to 12.

"No, I asked for District 12" his answer shocks me, no-one ever wants our district for anything. Even Effie can't wait until she gets promoted to a higher ranking district.

"That's strange" I reply honestly.

"Why don't you slip your robe on and we can have a chat" Cinna hands me my robe and I immediately slip into it. Its funny how I feel more confident as soon as my body is hidden.

I follow him through a door to a sitting room. Two red couches face each other over a low table. Three walls are blank; he forth is entirely glass, providing a window to the city. Its midday and you can see the busy streets packed with people. Cinna invites me to sit down on one of the couches and takes a seat opposite me. He presses a button and the top of the table splits into two and up from underneath comes another table top with our lunch. Steaming chicken and pieces of oranges cooked in a creamy white sauce laid on a bed of pearly white grain, tiny green peas and carrots. For desert a cake covered in a sticky golden sauce. I would never be able to cook this if I was back home, something similar but not as nice. Turkey would have to substitute for the chicken, the grain we get with tessrea would be the pearly white grain; and then whatever vegetables I could find. It must be so lovely to have food appear at the touch of a button, not after a hard day hunting and cooking it.

"So Katniss myself and Portia, Peeta's stylist, are thinking about dressing you in complementary outfits for the opening ceremony" says Cinna "As you know, its tradition for the outfits to reflect your district"

You're supposed to wear something that suggests your district's principal industry. District 11, agriculture. District 3, factories. District 4, fishing. Which means Peeta and I will either dressed in skimpy outfits with headlights as hats or completely naked and covered in coal dust.

" So we'll be in miners outfits then?" I ask.

"Not exactly, we we're going for something a little different" he replies, taking a sip from his drink.

"Naked and covered in coal dust then" I mumble, Cinna lets out a laugh spluttering a bit of his drink.

"What do you do with coal Katniss?" he continues after seeing my confused face, "You burn it. You're not afraid of fire are you?"

_Afraid of fire? Of course not. Who would be scared of something that easily destroys lives and livelihoods_, I think.

"I'm not quite sure where you're going with this Cinna.."

A few hours later I'm dressed in an outfit that will most probably kill me. _How ironic, it wont be another tribute that kills me, it will be my stylist._ I'm in a simple black jumpsuit that covers me from ankle to neck. Shiny leather boats lace up to my knees. But it's the fluttering cape made of streams of orange, yellow and red and matching headpiece that define this outfit. Cinna plans on setting the cape on fire just before our chariot rolls into the streets.

"It's not a real flame, just a little synthetic fire Portia and I came up with. Its completely harmless" he says. I still don't believe him.

My face is relatively clear of make-up, only a bit of highlighting here and there. My hair has been brushed out and styled back into a similar braid to what my mother did. Peeta shows up in an identical outfit. His stylist and prep team accompany him, and everyone is giddy with excitement over the impression we will make. We're took down to the bottom of the Remake Centre, which is pretty much a massive stable. Pairs of tributes are being loaded into chariots pulled by four horses. Our horses are coal black. Cinna and Portia direct us into the chariot,and carefully arrange our body positions, the drapes of our capes, before moving off to consult with each other.

"What do you think will happen?" I whisper to Peeta.

"We're going to be burnt before we even get out of the stable" he says through gritted teeth.

I let out a small laugh. Maybe, if we get each others off quick enough, we can avoid the worst of the burns.

"Where's Haymitch?" I ask. I hadn't seen him since this morning when we were still on the train.

"Probably drunk in some gutter by now" Peeta laughed, it was the first time I'd seen his face relax a little since this the train.

The opening music begins, it's easy to hear, blasted around the capitol. Massive doors slide open, revealing the crowd-lined streets. The ride lasts about twenty minutes and ends up at the City Circle, where they will welcome us, and escort us to the Training Centre. Where we will all stay until the Games begin. The tributes from District 1 ride out in a chariot pulled by snow-white horses they look beautiful, sprayed silver with tunics that have jewels all over it. District 1 make valuables for the capitol. The crowd roar as they come into view, there always favourites.

District 2 goes into position to follow them, both tributes wearing golden armour and helmets. Making them look like Roman gladiators. The male tribute stares straight ahead, his blue eyes fixated on the City Centre. In no time at all we are approaching the door and I can see the overcast sky turning grey. The tributes from District 11 are just rolling out when Cinna appears with a lighted torch. "Here we go then," he says, and before we can react he sets our capes alight. I gasp, waiting for the heat, but there is only a tickling sensation. Cinna climbs up before us and lights our headdresses. He lets out a sigh of relief, "It works!" Then he gently tucks a hand under my chin. "Remember, heads high. Smiles. There going to love you!" he climbs down from the chariot, but has one last idea that I couldn't quite hear.

"What did he say?" I ask Peeta.

"I think he wants us to hold hands" Peeta says, taking my hand into his own. We both look to Cinna to see if this was what he wanted. He silently replies by giving us a thumbs up. The crowd's initial alarm at our entrance quickly changes to chants of "District 12". At first I'm scared, but then I catch a glance at us on one of the screens. We look breathtaking. I quickly relax lifting my chin higher, and bigger smile growing on my face. I wave with my free hand, blowing kisses now and again. The people of the capitol are going nuts. Screaming our names, our first names. Meaning that they have been bothered to find us in the programme. No-one will forget me. No-one will forget Katniss. The girl who was on fire.

As we enter the City Circle I realise I must have almost cut the circulation off in Peeta's hand with how hard I was squeezing it. I begin to loosen my grip but Peeta stops me, "Don't let go, I might fall off this thing"

"Okay" I say, as we pull to a holt at President Snow's mansion.

The President, a small, thin man with paper-white hair, gives the official welcome from a balcony above us. It's traditional to cut away to the faces of the tributes during the speech. But I can see on the screen that we are getting more than our fair share of airtime. The darker it becomes, the more difficult it is to take your eyes away from the flickering from our capes. When the national anthem plays, they do make an effort to do a quick cut around all the pairs of tributes as we parade around the circle of a final time, before disappearing into the Training Centre.

As the doors close around us, we're engulfed by our prep teams, congratulating us on such a perfect opening ceremony. Portia extinguishes us and helps us to get down off the chariot.

Once down I can see 22 pairs of eyes full of hatred glaring at me. Everyone in the capitol might of like our entrance, but these lot hated it. Taking the eyes off them meant it made it harder for them to get sponsors, making there chances of surviving decrease. Peacekeepers came to escort us to the elevator that would then take us to our room. To speed things up we was required to share the trip with other Districts. The peacekeepers pushed us all toward the elevator, most of us able to fit in before they stopped and allowed it to go up. Obviously because I have bad luck I was not in the first trip; and Peeta was. Leaving me alone on the bottom floor with 4 remaining tributes.

"That was quite an entrance fire girl" I spun around to the male that had said that. The male tribute from District 2 was leaning against the wall still wearing his Roman armour; but opting to hold his headpiece in his hands.

"Thank-you" I replied, trying to not look vulnerable to the career tribute. I didn't want him to think I was an easy kill.

"You've lost me a lot of sponsors twelve" he sighed, a smirk creeping onto his face.

"You're a career, you'll get them back" I snapped back, not wanting to admit to myself how handsome he looked when he smirked like that.

"I will once I get the highest training score" he smiled at me, obviously thinking I would contradict him; but I knew there was no point. I certainly wasn't going to get higher than a career.

"Yeah, you will"

"You're not like any girl I know fire girl"

"And you know that from me saying 3 sentences to you, wow" my comment was laced with sarcasm, but the truth. He didn't know me, he couldn't know me.

"Yes, yes I do. I'm a good judge of character" he explains, his smirk returning.

"I can tell you now, you've got me wrong"

"We'll see" his last comment lingers as we both enter the elevator that has just returned. Once the other tributes follow we all go off to our floors. You stay in the floor number of your district, easy enough to remember. Riding in an elevator is not a new thing, I'd been in one once before when I went to collect my fathers medal. But it still didn't stop me wanting to ride in it again.

* * *

**Thank-you for reading! Next chapter will be the training, and just so you know Cato will be paying very close attention to Katniss! hehe  
Love you all! x x x  
**


	4. Chapter 4: You Owe Me

**Heya! I'm on a roll today, two chapters in one day, you lucky people! A big thank-you to Strawberryluv for her lovely reviews, they made my day so I hope you like this chapter! It's got a lot of Cato and Katniss in it, enjoy..**

**Chapter 4: You Owe Me  
**

"Come on, up up" I wake up to Effie, bubbly as ever, standing in my door way. "We've got a big day today, so get a shower and meet us all for breakfast." Today was going to be my first ever day training. Today would be the day that the other tributes made a judge on whether I was competition or not. I knew that breakfast would involve myself, Haymitch and Peeta talking about what we wanted to do. Be mentored alone, together, that kind of thing. Slowly I drag myself out of bed and towards the shower. I randomly press buttons, and get assaulted with cold water and hot water, then all kinds of different foams. Once showered I step out onto the mat to dry, whilst placing my hand on the box that sends a current through my scalp that untangles and parts my hair. Back in my room I can see an outfit already laid out for me, tight black trousers, a long sleeved burgundy tunic and leather shoes. I style my hair in a single braid going down my back and head off for breakfast.

Just like back in the train, Haymitch, Effie and Peeta are already there; waiting for me. The table is lined with ham, eggs, sausages, bread rolls and slices of purple melon. As I slip into my seat, Haymitch begins to pile food onto his plate. The others and I quickly follow. I quickly finish my plate and sit eating bread rolls dunked in hot chocolate while I wait or the others to finish.

Once Haymitch has finished several platters of sausages and ham he takes a quick swig out of a flask he must of gotten out of his pocket. "All right training, I can coach you together or separately. Decide now"

"Why would you coach us separately?" I ask.

"if you had a special skill you didn't want the other tribute to know" Haymitch explains.

"Well I've eaten enough of your squirrels to know yours Katniss" Peeta says.

This takes me off guard, I had completely forgot about Peeta eating my kills. For some reason I'd always imagined his father eating them alone.

"You can coach us together" I tell Haymitch, Peeta mumbles his consent.

"Okay so give me some idea of what you can do" says Haymitch.

"I can't do anything" says Peeta, "Unless you count making bread"

Haymitch lets out a small laugh before he turns to me, "Sorry I don't. Katniss I know you're good at throwing knifes, but can you do anything else?"

"I'm not good at throwing knifes, I just got lucky that day. But I can hunt" I say, "With a bow and arrow"

"And are you good?" Haymitch asks.

I had never thought about whether I was good or not. I've been putting food on the table for 4 years. I'm not as good as my father, but he had more practise. I'm better at aiming than Gale, but I've had more practise. "I'm all right" I say.

"She's better than all right" Peeta chips in, "My father buys her squirrels, he always comments on how he arrows never pierce the body. She hits every one in the eye. The butcher says the same too, he buys her rabbits"

I didn't know what Peeta was doing, but I didn't like it. "Well I've seen you carry the 50 kilo bags of flour around effortlessly, tell Haymitch that" I snap back at him.

"Yeah, because the arena is going to be filled with bags of flour for me to kill people with. I can't use an actual weapon" he snaps back.

"He can wrestle" I tell Haymitch, "He came second to his brother in a competition back home"

"All right, I get it. Now I want you to learn how to use different weapons, learn to tie knots, go to the edible plant section. Katniss stay away from archery unless you don't mind people knowing your strength. Same goes for you Peeta, stay away from lifting or chucking heavy objects" Haymitch say, obviously annoyed with Peeta and I arguing.

Its almost ten. I clean my teeth and smooth back my hair again. I can feel the anxiety building up at the thought of meeting the other tributes. By the time I meet Effie and Peeta at the elevator, I find myself biting my nails. I stop at once.

The actual training room is underneath the Training Centre building. With the elevator it takes a minute before I see it for the first time. A huge gymnasium filled with various weapons and obstacle courses. Although it's not even ten yet, we're the last pair to arrive. While someone pins the number _12 _to my back I make a quick assessment of the other tributes. All of the careers have at least 20 kilos on me, even the small blonde from 1. There's a 12 year old from District 11, she reminds me of how Prim looked when she had to go on the big playground for the first time back at school. All the tributes are lined up in a semi-circle shape around the head trainer, Atala. She begins on explaining the training schedule. Experts in each skill will remain at their stations. We will be free to move from area to area as we choose, per our mentor's instruction. Some stations will teach survival techniques others fighting ones. We are forbidden to engage in any combative exercise with another tribute, except for the hand to hand combat. But that will be monitored. When Atala releases us all the careers head off to the deadliest looking weapons available, handing them with complete ease.

I head towards the target area, dummies and targets are everywhere. The District 1 boy and the girl from 2, Clove I think I've heard her called, are already there; each armed with a deadly looking blade. Clove throws her knife at a target 10 feet away hitting the bulls-eye with ease, as she goes to collect the knife I think it's good that I'm a fast runner. I decide on a small but lethal looking knife that I can easily grip, ignoring the looks that the boy is giving me. I go towards the nearest dummy and put a good 7 or 8 feet between myself and him. Taking in a deep breath and throw the knife straight into the dummies head. I let out a sigh of relief and go to collect the blade. As I go to pull the blade out a knife lodges itself into the dummy just above my hand.

"Who the bloody hell did that?" I growl, indignation written all over my face. It wasn't until I saw the boy from last night jog up to retrieve the knife he'd just thrown at me that I realised who I was talking to.

"Sorry 12, did I scare you?" the boy answers, a smirk coming across his face.

"No, I just don't like people throwing things at me when my back is turned" I retort, grabbing my own knife out of the dummy and returning to the throwing area.

"Well you'd better get used to it, I don't think people really bother with manners in the arena" he shoots back following me.

"Well maybe they should, manners cost nothing" I reply acoustically.

"You're right they don't. I'll make you a deal if you want" he says whilst placing his knife back on the rack.

"And what deal is that?" I ask, placing my own knife back on the rack next to his.

"I promise to not kill you when your back is turned" he says, and picks up a spear his eyes examining the metal shaft, "I wouldn't want to be impolite"

"You have yourself a deal 2" I say, just as he releases the spear sending it straight through the dummy's heart making it look like a skewer.

"My name is Cato, 12" he replies, still smirking.

"I'm not 12, I'm Katniss" I snap back.

"Whatever fire girl" Cato says as he walks away to the rest of the careers. I didn't quite know if what I had just done was sensible or not. I glanced at him quickly, the girl from 1 was practically throwing herself at him; but you could see from his expression that he wasn't interested. I found Peeta at the camouflage station, painting his arm with mixes of mud and berries to resemble tree bark. It was very good.

"I iced the cakes back home" Peeta explains as I take a seat next to him, "What did that career want?" he asks.

"Oh nothing, just trying to belittle me." I say, not quite telling him the truth.

"Don't let it get to you Katniss"

"I wont" I tell him. I stay seated next to Peeta for ten minutes, watching all the other tributes train. Most of them aren't very good, for today is the first time they've ever picked up a weapon. The girl who was throwing herself at Cato catches my eye. She's stood at the archery station struggling to pull the bowstring back; she winces as she sends the arrow flying toward the windows at the back of the room. Narrowly impaling a training attendant. I let out a laugh and can't help but wish that I could go over there and show her how its done. But then everyone would know my secret, and I wasn't sure if I wanted that.

"Come on, lets go get lunch" I say to Peeta as the rest of the tributes file through to the dinning hall.

We eat lunch together but in silence. The only noise comes from the table in which all the careers sit. I couldn't help but let my eyes watch them. Cato, the obvious leader of the career pack this year, wasn't speaking. He was just looking around the room aimlessly. Clove and the girl from 1, Glimmer, were deep in conversation. The boy from 1 was the only one actually eating.

Throughout the rest of the training session I stayed with Peeta. We learnt how to tie different knots and went to the edible plant station. The rest of the day passed by rather quickly, I ate dinner with Haymitch and Peeta, and watched some television with Effie.

"I want to go for a run, is that allowed?" I ask Haymitch.

"You can go, but you have to have a tracker placed around your ankle so they know where you are" he replies.

"Okay" I turned to Peeta, "Are you coming?" I ask him.

"No thank-you" he denied my offer, and went back to watching the TV.

"All right, I'm now going then" I tell them all before heading down to the ground floor using the elevator. I walk to the Peacekeeper next to the door, "Excuse me I want to go for a run, do you have a tracker I could wear?" I ask him politely. He tells me to wait there while he goes to get one.

"Hello fire girl" a voice I know all too well says.

"What do you want Cato?" I ask rudely.

"Nothing I'm going for a run, why are you here?" he asks, looking at me inquisitively.

I sigh, _just my luck, _"I was going for a run as well" I say.

"Was?" he asks.

"Well I don't quite feel up to it now that I know you're going" I begin to walk away, but he reaches out and grabs my arm to stop me.

"Afraid you wont be able to keep up?" he questions, that familiar smirk returning to his face.

"You'll have to wait for me to get the tracker then" I glare at him for being able to make me come. As if on cue the Peacekeeper returns, bringing my tracker with him. He placed it around my ankle and told me I could go whenever. I looked at Cato and we silently agreed to go, Cato stopped just long enough to pull his jogging bottoms up and flash the tracker around his ankle to the Peacekeeper. I took in a deep breath, it was the first time I'd been outside since the opening ceremony. I felt free again.

"Shall we go then?" Cato asks, glancing forwards with his eyes. In answer I break into a slow jog, wanting to warm up first. He jogs along side me, not breaking a sweat or showing any signs that he needed to slow down. I picked up the pace after ten minutes, running was something I was good at. 4 years of hunting made it almost second nature to me.

"Do you go for jogs often then?" I ask trying to make conversation.

Cato laughs at my attempt, "Yes, nearly every night. But there's not that many place's that make running easy in 2"

"Oh, what's it like in 2 then?" I was generally intrigued about what he would say next. It was against the law to go to another District unless it's for the Victory Tour.

"It's not that different to here, it's a little bit less high-tech and stuff. But other than that it's quite similar" he stops running when we get to a park so that he can open the gate, we run in silence for a while until he stops again in front of a fountain. He sits down on the fountains edge and pats the space next to him. I sit down, trying to stop myself from breathing heavily. I didn't want him to know I was a little out of breath. "So, when did you learn to run like that then?" he asks.

"I have to run when I go hunting" I say, immediately regretting it.

"Hunting?" he asks, his face looks confused.

"Yeah, I go hunting for food in the forest behind my District. Its the only way my family can eat" I explain, not letting on what I use for hunting or if I'm any good at it.

"Isn't that illegal though? You're not allowed in the forests"

"The law isn't really enforced back home, not when the Head Peacekeeper buys the game you kill" I explain.

"See, I am a good judge of character" his smirk returns, and I can feel my heart quickening. _Must be because of the jog_.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You really are like no other girl I know" he looks straight into my eyes, I feel uncomfortable but I don't want to look week and break the eye contact. He smiles when he realises and put his hands over my eyes, covering them. "I win" he laughs.

"You cheated!" I stand up and stretch my arms, knowing what I was about to say I secretly get ready to do a sprinting dash. "Race you back?" I didn't give him chance to either accept or deny I just sprinted off.

The Training Centre came into view, and I could hear Cato at my heals. With the last burst of energy I had, I up my pace and sprint to the door. Panting I walk in and collapse on the floor, I smile and laugh as Cato walks through the door after me. "I win" I laugh as he sits down beside me. He was panting just as hard as me and his forehead was glistening with sweat. Something about it made him look more handsome. He had recently ran his hand through his blonde hair, making it stick up in a wild style. He was laughing along with me, his blue eyes reflecting the light-hearted mood we are both in.

"Only this time fire girl, rematch tomorrow night?" he smirks back.

"If I win again, you owe me something all right?" I say matching his smirk.

"As long as its owed before the arena, sure why not" I knew what he meant, he wanted to make sure I wasn't going to say that in the arena if he was in the position to kill me he owed me, "And if I win, you owe me something." he smiles.

"All right you're on"

"So what do I owe you then?" he bunches his face up in a mock confused face.

I laugh before saying, "You owe me a spear throwing lesson in our final training session, what do I owe you?"

"A kiss"

* * *

**Dun dun dun! Is it just me or was that heart stopping?:-) I don't know why i'm going all jelly-knees over it, i'm the one who wrote it:L  
It's up to you who wins the next race, Cato or Katniss? Tell me in your review! Love you all x x x**


	5. Chapter 5: I Win

**Hey guys! Thank you ever so much for the reviews, follows and favourites! Strawberryluv I love your idea, and I used your idea of Cato being cocky! I just put it into my own situation. Hope you enjoy!**

**Chaper 5: I win**

Memories of last night came flooding back as soon as I woke up from my peaceful sleep. It was the first night that I hadn't had a nightmare. Slowly I dragged myself to get a shower. After having learnt my lesson I only pressed the buttons for warm water and strawberry soap. I got dressed in my training attire and headed out for breakfast.

"You're in Peeta's bad books" Haymitch smirks as I sit down opposite him.

"What are you on about" I ask, generally confused.

"You went jogging with the career" he states in between mouthfuls of bread.

"So what if I did?" I snap back, irritated by Peeta. I wouldn't have gone jogging with Cato if Peeta had been bothered to come. It was more his fault than my own.

"He thinks you're trying to get in with the careers"

"Maybe I do what to be in them" I snap back angrily.

"Well if you do I suggest you start using a bow" Haymitch explains further that if I want a place in the career pack I need to prove my worth.

"Whatever, I'm going to go train" I walk off annoyed. It was only 8. When I got to the gymnasium unsurprisingly no-one was there apart from Atala and the training assistants.

"Am I aloud to train this early?" I ask her.

"Yes sure" she says.

I was alone with only Atala here to see me. The archery station was tucked out of view from people. So I could train with the high-tech bows for a while and not be seen. Obviously I'd stop as soon as I heard someone enter. I walked over and admired the bows. They look so beautiful! I chose the one that closest resembled my bow back home and placed an arrow in it. The familiarity was so good when I pulled back the bowstring with ease; letting the arrow go flying into the dummy's heart. Again and again I let arrows fly. Always hitting the mark I was aiming for. I was home.

"Excuse me" I say to the archery assistant, "Do you have any flying targets?" I ask. He nods his head and goes to fetch them. When he returns with targets shaped like rabbits and birds I tell him to throw them all. All 9 that he bought, at various heights and speeds. He does, and I let arrow after arrow go flying through the air again. Every animal target comes down. A single shot through the eye. Just as Peeta said. With a satisfied grin I turn around to put the bow back and go somewhere else before the other tributes come in. But instead I turn to see a smiling Cato leant up against the closest wall to me.

"You're very good" he says with his signature smirk.

This is great. Now my secrets out and he's going to tell everyone.

"Thank-you" I say with all the confidence I can muster.

"You wasn't lying about hunting then" he says, walking towards me.

"Why would I?" I ask, placing the bow back on the rack.

"To impress me" he says matter of factly.

"Yes because that is top of my priorities right now" I say back sarcastically.

"Well it should be"

"Don't flatter yourself Cato"

"I'm not" he replies, backing me up against the fake wall separating the archery shooting zone to the rest of the gym.

"What are you doing?" I ask, trying to get away.

"I'm about to ask you to become a member of my alliance" he whispers into my ear.

"Well there is really no need to back me up against a wall" I retort quickly; trying to worm my body out from under his.

"No, but it's far more interesting" he smirks, "So what do you say fire girl, you in?" he asks. Saying yes would mean possible survival of the bloodbath and until we all turn on each other. Saying no would just make me the first person he'd want to kill.

"Yes. On one condition" I reply after a few minutes.

"And what's that?" he whispers into my ear.

"You get off me" I say in the most fake flirtatious voice I can. To my surprise he does. He releases my body from under his and I begin to walk to the agility course.

"Fire girl" he says. I turn my head towards him, "Your secrets safe with me" he smirks. I swear if I wasn't being made to kill him already I would. I guess I just have to wait and find out if his last remark was true. Not that it really matters if people know I can shoot. Not now I'm a career.

**Cato POV**

So fire girl can shoot. Who would have thought someone from a scum district was good enough to be with the careers. Most of the other tributes were starting to arrive now, so I stood back and waited for Clove.

"You were gone when we all woke up" her voice says from behind me.

"I needed time to think, and it's a good job I did because we have a new ally" I reply, and then walk towards the stand with various swords on it.

"Who?" she calls, whilst heading to her knives.

"12" I say. I choose a deadly looking sword that fits perfectly in my hand. Secretly hoping that they'll put this one in the arena for me.

"The girl? She can't do that much Cato?" she says as she begins throwing knife after knife at different dummies.

"Trust me. She deserves to be with us. She'll make an easier kill that way" I begin to slice the dummy to shreds. First the arms, then the legs. Finally the head.

"Whatever you say. Glimmer and marvel seam intent on joining"

"As long as Glimmer doesn't use a bow, and Marvel doesn't go off on one if Glimmer is killed" I say. Secretly knowing that Katniss would take the bow straight off Glimmer anyway.

"It's the only weapon she's marginally good at though" Clove laughs.

"Well she better start practising with something else then"

The training session goes by quickly, now and again I catch Katniss looking at me; I give her a smirk and a wave which makes her blush and look down at her feet.

"Tributes, we're going to do some paired hand-to-hand combat now. We've already placed you with a partner" Atala says. I hope I don't get someone to easy. I switch off as she begins to read out the pairs, only listening when I hear her call out that Clove is with Rue, Katniss is with Glimmer and I am with Peeta. Should be interesting.

Marvel and Thresh are up first, both of the throw a couple of punches but eventually a whistle is blown when Thresh is sitting on top of Marvel's chest. The non-career tribute fights are boring, they all don't seam to care. Clove and Rue go next and I hear Katniss wince as Clove pins the little girl down in a matter of seconds. I pay close attention to the matches involving the district 4 tributes, both of them win there match but the girl comes off with a few scratches.

Finally its Katniss' and Glimmer's turn. Glimmer walks on to the mat smiling, obviously thinking she's one the match already. Katniss walks on towards the mat slowly, but before she even steps on Glimmer throws herself at an unsuspecting Katniss. They fall back on to the hard stone floor with Glimmer landing on top she begins to pull at Katniss' hair and dig her nails into her skin. With a look of determination Katniss kicks out and waits for the grip on her arms to loosen. When it does Katniss flings Glimmer off her body and pins her down with her arm against her throat. A whistle blows, signalling Katniss' win. Katniss gets up and walks back to Peeta, while Glimmer returns to Marvel sending glares to Katniss' back.

When it's my turn I walk onto the mat at the same time as Peeta. We both run towards each other throwing punches in whenever possible, to give him credit Peeta isn't a bad fighter. Eventually though I have him pinned in a headlock with a whistle declaring my victory. The rest of the careers erupt with celebratory cheers.

Three short whistles gain control of the room again, as well as giving us the time. Training is over.

I hang back a while wanting to catch Katniss before she goes off back to her room.

"Hey fire girl" I call, her head involuntary turns towards me, "7 o'clock?" I ask knowing that she'll understand. She doesn't answer, but I know that she'll turn up. She has pride, and wants to prove that she will win again. Even though we both know she wont.

**Katniss POV**

Standing in the elevator whilst it heads down to the ground floor my palms begin to sweat. I have no idea why I'm nervous, but I am. For one I know I have a pretty good chance of winning, and two I know that Cato wouldn't actually kiss me. He wouldn't want to scum up his pretty lips.

The elevator doors open and I see him leaning up against a wall waiting for me. I don't know how, but he looks handsome in jogging bottoms and a plain white vest. I suppose it has something to do with the fact his muscular arms are in view. "Hello" I say when I'm standing in front of him.

"Hello fire girl" he says with a smile, "Shall we go?" he asks.

Silently we walk out the Training Centre doors and begin with a light jog. I let him take the lead tonight, he goes the same way we went the night before, gradually setting the pace a bit faster.

"So who taught you to shoot?" he asks.

"My father" I answer truthfully, "He took me hunting for the first time when I was 9"

"Same age as I was when I started training" he replies slowing down just enough so that I was jogging along side him.

"So you've been training for 7 years?" I ask.

"8 actually, I'm 17" he replies with a smile, "But you've been shooting for 7?"

"6 and a half actually, I stopped for half a year when my father died" I return his smile as he stops to open the gate like last time.

"How did he die?" he asks when we're sitting by the fountain.

"In a mining accident"

"I'm sorry" he reaches over and squeezes my hand. It's only then that I realise I've began to cry. Not sobbing like a baby, just a few tears. But it's enough for him to see.

"So this race then" I say to change the subject, and to distract me from the butterflies in my stomach from his touch.

"Yes this race" he says, starting to stand up.

"See you at the Training Centre loser" I laugh while sprinting off.

Cato keeps constantly at my heals, its a tighter race today since he knew when to start and it wasn't just sprung on him. I can hear him laughing at me as we turn round the corner for the final time. We both pick up the pace, sprinting the last 50 meters to the door. We both stumble in and collapse on the floor in a burst of laughter.

"So who won?" I say between laughs.

"I did, obviously" he says, making kissing noises with his lips.

I laugh before saying, "No, I think I won" he smiles at my reaction.

"Shall we call it a tie?" he smirks, knowing that I wont back down.

"If you'd like, does this mean I don't get my spear throwing lessons" I ask pouting.

He stands up and offers me his hand. I take it and he helps me to stand up, but not letting go of my hand. He pulls me into his chest and places his hands around my waist in a securing hug. I place my hands on his forearms not wanting them to be hanging awkwardly by my sides. His icy blue eyes look into my smoky grey ones, "No, because I'm still getting my kiss" he says, and then leans down and captures my lips with his own. I let him take the lead, only because I wouldn't know what to do. For someone with such a hard exterior, he has quite nice soft lips. He pulls away first and smiles. "I'll see you later fire girl" he smirks, before leaving me standing in the middle of the room going over what just happened.

**Thank-you for reading, drop us a review on how you'd like the spear throwing lessons to turn out! Love you al x**


	6. Chapter Six: I'm Doing It For You

**Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews! Strawberryluv: thank-you for your advice! It's much appreciated! Love you girlfriend!;)**** So heres the next chapter!**

**Chapter Six: I'm Doing It For You**

When I return to my floor Peeta, Haymitch and Effie are sat on the couch watching the TV. Peeta's head turns towards the door when I enter, I give him a quick smile and turn to enter my room.

"Katniss, come sit with us for once" Effie's bubbly voice says.

"Actually Effie, would you mind if I spoke to you for a bit" I say, she begins to ask me what's wrong when I continue, "In private?"

"Oh yes, sure. Lets go into my room" she says, standing up and walking towards the door on the opposite side to my own. I follow her, and I am immediately struck dumb by the girlishness of her room. Effie has had the walls painted pink and an array of multi-coloured wigs line a dresser. She sits down on her bed and offers me a seat next to her. "So boy trouble is it?" she asks with a friendly smile.

"How did you know?" I ask her.

"Because it was either that or fashion, why would you come to me for anything else" she laughs, "So what's wrong?"

"I'm apart of the careers" I say, looking down at my feet, "And I kissed him"

Effie sucks in a sharp breath and places her hand on my thigh giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Darling, this is exactly what we need to sell sponsors" she says enthusiastically.

"But Peeta, I can't help but feel that I've betrayed him" I whisper.

"Katniss, you're a girl. You'll do what makes your heart happy. Peeta will understand" she says.

"Should I tell him?" I ask quietly.

"I think it would be better if he found out from you" she honestly replies.

"I don't know how to tell him Effie, I don't want to hurt him"

"You'll do the right thing Katniss, you're a good person. Remember that" she says softly. I stand up and leave her room.

"Peeta, can I talk to you?" I ask him.

"Yeah sure, I want to show you somewhere" he says, standing up signalling me to follow him with his hand. He walks in front in silence, taking me up a set of stairs I never knew about. Eventually he stops and I see we're standing on top of the Training Centre roof. The Capitol looks beautiful from up here.

"Peeta" I call, I can feel the tears building up in my eyes, I know he can see them watering up. He looks at me strangely, like he thinks its his fault I'm crying. He really couldn't be more wrong, "I'm a career" I whisper, I know he heard me because his face drops the slight smile he's had since we got up here. "And I kissed him" I let a single tear fall down my cheek, I turn away from Peeta. I don't want to see his reaction.

"Katniss" he reaches out and takes my hand, I don't flinch away. I just stand there not looking at him. "Did you want to" he asks.

"I don't know" I whisper truthfully. In the moment I didn't have much choice, I didn't exactly stop him though did I?

He lets my hand go and wipes away the second tear to fall down my cheek. "Are you upset with me for becoming a career?" I ask sheepishly.

Peeta walks away, stopping for a moment by the door, "No, I'm more upset about the kiss"

**Cato POV**

"Did it work?" says Enobaria.

"I don't know, I've confused her though" I say, picking a bread roll off the table and taking a bite out of it.

"You'll have to do better than that if you want sponsors Cato, you need her to fall in love with you" she says.

"Yeah, she will. Eventually." I say, a smirk crossing my face. Katniss would fall in love with me, she'd trust me and I would save her until last.

"You'd better hope so" Enobaria says before walking into her room and shutting the door.

"Clove" I yell and then taking a seat on the couch to watch some TV.

"What" she yells back. Typical, she was the only one that would never do as I say. She never comes scurrying along like the rest of them do when I call her. Suppose that's what I get for having her as a best friend.

"Come here then" I laugh. Two minutes later she walks out of her room in her silk dressing gown.

"What do you want Cato?" she asks, stealing the remote off me and changing the channel.

"To talk about our alliance"

"What about it?" she asks looking at me funny.

"What are we going to do in the bloodbath?" I ask, Clove would be the only person I'd turn to for advice. She knows me better than anyone else.

"Kill as many as we can and claim it as our base" she smiles cunningly at me.

"Is there anyone you actually want in the alliance with us?"

"Only Glimmer and Marvel, and you want Katniss"

"Yeah, I do. I think we should have District 4 as well, but only if they survive the bloodbath. I'm not going out of my way to save them" Clove and I laugh at this.

"Why are you so intent on spending time with 12?" Clove asks me in a whisper.

"Because Enobaria told me to" I tell her the truth, about how it will help to gain more sponsors and mess about with her head.

"It better be the only reason Cato" she says, before standing up and walking off back into her room.

"Oi fire girl!" I shout over the noise of training tributes.

"What do you want?" she shouts back. I wave the spear I hold in my hand teasingly. She begins to walk over when Peeta stops her. I watch her converse with him before giving him a reassuring smile and continuing her walk to me.

"Would you like throwing lessons or not?" I smirk when she is stood before me.

She picks up a dainty looking spear, "Sure" she says.

I tell her how to hold it and how it's easier to throw. I begin by telling her to aim just above the dummy's head, saying that its quite common for beginners to not be able to throw straight. She pulls back and throws her spear, hitting the wall just above the dummy's head. I hear Clove laugh thinking that she was obviously aiming for the head and missed. "Maybe you can throw straight then" I laugh.

She smirks, "You've forgotten my aim is accurate"

"Throw it again then" I laugh at her as she walks toward the dummy. The temptation to do a repeat performance of the first time we met is almost to high. I don't though since the Gamemakers and sponsors are beginning to arrive in the balcony, meaning that it's almost time for lunch. When she returns I stand by her side and we silently throw spears together. Now and again she doesn't hit her mark, but most of the time she is accurate. The Gamemakers are looking at us, clearly impressed with us both. Me more. Obviously.

"Sit with us all at lunch, we need to go over the tactics." I say as Atala blows three times on a whistle. Katniss walks off without accepting, and goes to get a tray of fresh chicken soup. I do the same and take a seat along side Clove, Glimmer and Marvel.

**Katniss POV**

"What's wrong?" I ask as I sit down opposite Peeta, ignoring Cato's invitation and glares.

"Nothing" Peeta says with no emotion, not even looking at me.

"Peeta, I'm going into the careers to help you. By going with them I can lead them away from you and help you win" I explain, it's what myself and Haymitch had discussed. I would keep the careers away from Peeta, and kill some of them off whenever I could without becoming suspicious.

"Have you ever thought that maybe it's not me I want to win?" he says, still not looking at me.

"What do you mean? How can you not want to win?" I ask.

"Why don't you ask yourself the same question Katniss. Why are you trying to get me to win when you need to go home for Prim? I have no-one." he snaps back quietly so no-one can hear.

"I know I can't win Peeta, I've come to terms with that. But you, you still have a good chance. You can go home to your family. If I can't win, you should. It'll make it easier for Prim" I say fighting back tears.

"You have no idea Katniss" he replies angrily, he gets up quick and walks over to another table. I get up as well and walk over to wear the careers are sat.

"Cato" I say, standing behind him.

"Sit down 12" he replies, I slip into the seat next to him and stare straight ahead. "Why did you not sit with us?" he asks.

"I am now, aren't I?" I quickly reply.

"You sat with Peeta" he states.

"So what if I did?" I snap back, "Someone had to tell him that I was going to be a career" I lie.

"Why does he need to know?" Cato angrily asks.

"Because he saved my life once, this is my way of repaying him. I'm giving him a warning that I will be apart of the group trying to hunt him down" I lie again.

"Whatever" he relies and goes back to eating his soup.

"I'm Clove" the girl who throws the knives says.

"Katniss" I reply.

"We was just discussing our tactics" she says, "We were thinking of all running in and killing as many as possible"

"Just like normal then?" I laugh, trying to sound as though the thought of killing innocent people didn't repulse me.

"I suppose so yeah" she laughs with me, "Is there a certain weapon you're good with, so we know what to give to you"

"She doesn't have to tell you Clove" Cato snaps.

"Then how are we supposed to know what to do with her" she snaps back at him.

"Use your instincts on the day" he retorts.

"My instincts tell me to kill her" she glares at him.

"Well you're not going to" he snaps.

"We'll see" she smiles cunningly. Its weird being in the middle of an argument about me. Especially when its about my death.

"Tributes, we are about to start the Private sessions can I please have Marvel, District 1" the voice of Atala rings out in the lunch hall. Marvel rises from his seat and with encouraging pats from Glimmer and Cato goes to impress the Gamemakers and sponsors.

One by one they all head off, eventually its only me and Peeta left in the room. "Throw the weights good" I say as he gets called for his session.

"I will" he says and stops just before walking through the door, "You shoot straight" after about fifteen minutes, they call my name. I smooth my hair back, take a deep breath and walk into the gymnasium. Instantly I know I'm in trouble. The Gamemakers have been here far too long. Most of them have had too much wine. Some of them sit up and look impressed before I've even done anything. Atala must have mentioned something about my shooting. I walk over to the archery station and choose a silver metal bow, string it, and sling the matching quiver of arrows over my shoulder. There's a shooting range, but as I found out the other day, it's much too basic. I walk to the centre of the gymnasium and pick my first target. The dummy used by Clove for her knife throwing. I feel at home when I pull back the bowstring; the arrow goes flying, skewering the dummy right through the heart. Then I sever the rope that holds the sandbag for boxing, the bag splits open as it hits the ground. Without pausing, I shoulder-roll forward, come up on one knee, and send an arrow into one of the hanging lights high above the gymnasium floor. A shower of sparks rains down on me. With a satisfied grin I turn to the Gamemakers. The few who looked impressed before look gob smacked now. But the majority are fixated on a roast pig that has just arrived on the table.

Suddenly I am furious. With my life on the line, they don't even have the decency to pay attention to me. I am being upstaged by a dead pig. My heart begins to pound, and I can feel my cheeks burning. Without thinking, I pull an arrow from my quiver and send it straight at the Gamemakers table. The arrow skewers the apple in the pig's mouth and pins it to the wall behind it. Everyone stares at me with disbelief.

"Thank-you for your consideration" I say. Then I give a slight bow and walk straight towards to exit without being dismissed. As I stride towards the elevator I walk straight into a waiting Cato. His eyes look at the bow in my hand and quiver on my shoulder.

"Why do you still have those" he asks, looking confused.

"Because I walked out." I reply, the obvious frustration with the Gamemakers comes out in my voice.

"Without being dismissed? You're nuts" he says, "What did you do?"

"I shot an arrow at them" I reply, he bursts into a fit of laughter obviously not believing me until he sees how serious my face is.

"Are you serious? You're going to get a low score now" he says.

"I really couldn't give a damn. They can give me a zero for all I care. If they don't have the decency to watch me in my private session, I don't have the decency to play in the Games" I shoot back.

"Hey calm down 12, it wont matter when you get a zero anyway. I know you can shoot, I'll tell the rest that you didn't want the other tributes knowing that you was a serious competitor" he says.

"I don't want your help Cato. I'm not even sure I want to be in your alliance" I say.

"Don't be stupid Katniss" he says. I'm struck dumb for a moment. He has never called me Katniss before. Ever. It's always been fire girl or 12. "Why are you looking at me funny?" he asks with a concerned face.

I don't answer him. Instead I crash my lips onto his. He's confused at first, but soon begins to kiss me back, fighting for dominance. I don't give in though, not like last time. The kiss becomes intense and I tangle my fingers in his hair. His arms wrap around my waist securing me into his chest. I pull away and look into his eyes. "What was that for 12?" he smirks.

"You called me Katniss" I say.

"Well Katniss, I might start calling you that more often if that's the reaction I get" he smirks and captures my lips with his again. His tongue traces along my bottom lip but I don't open up. He smiles against my lips but doesn't press me further.

"Whatever Cato" I say as I pull away and walk to the elevator.

"Nice ass 12" he calls after me.

I growl and turn to glare at him, "Go to hell 2"

"Only if you come with me" he calls back as the elevator doors close, blocking him out of my sight and taking me back to my floor.

Haymitch, Effie and Peeta are already sitting down for dinner when I walk in. Cinna and Portia are sitting on the couch discussing something quietly. I sit down beside Peeta and begin to eat the fish soup that's been placed in front of me. Haymitch and Effie start some chit-chat about the weather forecast and I let my eyes meet Peeta's. He raises his eyebrows. A question. _What happened? _I just give my head a small shake. Then as the Avoxes serve the main course Haymitch speaks up, "So enough small talk. Just how bad were you today?"

Peeta jumps in. "I don't know that it mattered. By the time I showed up, no-one even bothered to watch. I threw some heavy objects until they dismissed me."

For some reason that makes me feel better. It's not like Peeta attacked the Gamemakers, but at least he was provoked too.

"And what about you sweetheart?" says Haymitch.

Somehow Haymitch calling me sweetheart ticks me off enough that I'm able to speak, "I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers"

Everyone stops eating. "You what?" the horror in Effie's voice confirms my suspicions. I was dead.

"I shot an arrow at them. Not exactly at them. In their direction. It's like what Peeta said, they we're too busy with a roast pig to notice me. So I shot an arrow at the apple in the pigs mouth" I say defiantly.

"And what did they say?" Haymitch asks.

"Nothing. Or I don't know. I walked out after that" I say.

"Without being dismissed?" gasps Effie.

"I dismissed myself" I said.

"I can't believe you Katniss!" she gasps again.

I turn to Haymitch "Do you think I'll get a low score?" I ask.

"Scores only mater if they're high. No-one pays much attention the bad or mediocre ones. For all they know, you could be hiding your talents to score low on purpose. People use that strategy," he says.

"I hope that's how people interpret the four I'll probably get" says Peeta "If that. Really, is anything less impressive than watching a person pick a heavy ball and throw it a couple of metres? One almost landed on my foot"

I grin at him and realise I'm starving. I cut off a piece of pork, dunk it in mashed potatoes, and start eating. After dinner, we go to the couches to watch the scores announced on television. First they show a photo of the tribute, then flash their score bellow it. The career tributes naturally get in the eight-to-ten range. Cato comes away with a ten. The highest score so far. Most of the other tributes average a five. Surprisingly little Rue comes up with a seven. She's so tiny, whatever she showed the judges must have been pretty impressive.

District 12 comes up last, as usual. Peeta pulls an eight, so at least a couple of the Gamemakers must have been watching him. I dug my fingernails into my palms as my face comes up, expecting the worst. Then they're flashing the number eleven on the screen.

Eleven! Cato is going to throw a fit!

Effie lets out a squeal, and everybody is slapping me on the back. It doesn't seam real.

"There must be some mistake. How can that happen?" I ask Haymitch.

"Guess they liked your temper" he says. "they've got a show to put on. They need some players with heat to spice things up"

"Katniss, the girl who was on fire!" Cinna says, "Just wait until you see your dress for tomorrow!"

"More flames?" I laugh.

"Sort of" he laughs back with me.

Peeta and I congratulate each other; another awkward moment. We've both done well, but what does that mean for the other? I escape to my own room as soon as possible and burrow down under the covers. I drift off, reprieved, relieved, with the number eleven still flashing up; and with the kiss I shared with Cato still repeating in my mind.

* * *

**Thank-you for getting to the bottom! I don't know whether to have a Peeta/Katniss moment in the next chapter, as they get ready for the interviews? Tell me in a review if you want it or not! Love you al **


	7. Chapter 7: She's Mine

**Thank-you for all your lovely reviews! hope you enjoy this:**

**Chapter 7: She's mine  
**

Effie's knocking at the door, reminding me there's another "big, big, big day!" ahead. Tomorrow night will be our televised interviews. I guess the whole team will have their hands full readying us for that.

I get up and take a quick shower, and head down to the dining room. Peeta, Effie and Haymitch are huddled around the table, talking in hushed voices. The seams odd, but hunger wins out over curiosity and I load up my plate with breakfast before I join them.

The stew's made with tender chunks of lamb and dried plums today. Perfect on the bed of wild rice. I've shovelled about halfway through the mound when I realise no-one's talking. I take a big gulp of my hot chocolate and wipe my mouth. "So what's going on? You're coaching us for our interviews today right?"

"That's right" says Haymitch.

"You don't have to wait for me to finish. I can listen and eat at the same time" I say.

"Well, there's been a change of plans. About our current approach" says Haymitch.

"What's that?" I ask. I'm not sure what our current approach is.

Haymitch shrugs, "Peeta's asked to be coached separately."

"What" I yell, pushing my plate of food away from me at the same time. "You're joking right?" I ask.

"No, he's not. I don't want to be coached with you any more Katniss" Peeta says.

I hear them calling me to sit down and come back but I don't. I keep walking towards the elevator resisting the urge to go back. The elevator doors open on floor 2 and a confused Enobaria looks at me.

"What are you doing here?" Enobaria snaps at me.

"I'm here to see Cato or Clove" I say.

"Well neither of them are awake yet, I've allowed them an extra hour sleep" she says, looking from me to the elevator doors. Silently telling me to go away.

"I need to see them" I say. Pushing past her and walking into the room that would have been mine if it was on my floor. A sleeping Cato is sprawled out over the bed entangled in the covers. His hair was wild and all over the place. I walk into his bathroom and fill a cup with freezing cold water, laughing inwardly at my imagined expression that will be plastered over his face once I do what I'm planning on doing. Walking over to his bed again I throw the water over him. Immediately he springs up wide awake, his face looks furious, water dripping off his chin. "Morning beautiful" I say cheerfully.

"What the hell was that for" he replies angrily.

"I needed to talk to you and you was asleep." I reply.

"And you didn't think of waiting for me to wake up" he asks, still annoyed. He swings his legs over the edge of the bed and stands up letting the covers fall to his feet. Clearly he's forgotten that he's fallen asleep in nothing but a pair of black boxers. He flexes his muscles and yawns. I can't help but run my eyes over his defined abs. "See something you like fire girl?" he smirks.

"Don't be ridiculous Cato. Anyway, I want to speak to you about Peeta" I say, avoiding eye contact.

"I wasn't be ridiculous, it's not my fault you can't keep your eyes to yourself" he says, still smirking. "He's not being in the alliance, even if he did get an eight" he continues.

"Shut up, and I don't want him to be in it either. I wanted to ask if I could be the one to kill him" I say sharply.

Shock is written all over Cato's face. I knew for a fact that he wasn't expecting that. "Why would you want to kill him fire girl" he asks.

"Because he betrayed me." I reply. Knowing how hypocritical I must sound. I was moaning about Peeta betraying me, yet I was the one leaving him to become a career. "And if I do it I know it will be quick and painless"

"Always so polite" Cato laughs. He gestures for me to come closer to him. I pretend I don't realise and just keep standing where I am. It doesn't work out because instead he walks towards me. He keeps walking even when he's stood in front of me. He backs me up against the wall and places his hands either side of my head. Trapping me. Not that I really care. _Wait. Do I have feelings for a __career?_ He places his lips on mine. I fight him for dominance, but lose. I try to pull away but I can't without hitting my head on the wall. His tongue traces along my bottom lip and I open my mouth allowing him to enter. Our tongues dance still fighting for dominance. Cato pull away and smiles at me.

"What?" I laugh, blushing.

"Nothing. Girl on fire" he winks and steps away from me. Allowing me time to get away from the wall. "You've got to go, I've got to prepare for my interview tomorrow"

That was Cato's way of telling me to go away. "Alright, I've got mine to do as well I suppose" my smile drops and I begin to walk out of his door.

"Are we going for a jog tonight?" he asks.

"I can't be bothered" I reply without turning around to see his reaction.

"Whatever then" he says as I close the door. Clove waves to me as I walk past her and Enobaria. I smile back before going to the elevator and back to my room.

**Cato POV**

I stumbled into the bathroom and had a quick shower. Getting dressed in normal clothes for once, not the usual training attire. I was told to meet Enobaria and Clove in the other room ten minutes ago, but with Katniss still here I couldn't.

"Nice of you to join us" Enobaria says as I sit down next to Clove.

"So what's happening then?" I ask her.

"Clove's going to go with acting humble about her ten, you're going to be gloating; and then you'll say what we discussed." Enobaria explains. Tomorrow night I was being told to declare my love for Katniss live on air. Two enemies that fall in love? That was sure to get sponsors.

"Shouldn't be too hard, even for you Cato" Clove winks sarcastically.

I turn to Enobaria again, "What if it doesn't work?" I say.

"Kill her the first chance you get" Enobaria says bluntly, gaining a laugh from Clove. "You're stylist wants you Clove" she says. Clove walks off into her room and her stylist follows.

"Come with me Cato" Enobaria says as Clove goes. She stands up and walks to the elevator.

"Where are we going?" I ask her while following behind.

"To the roof" she replies hitting the button with the number '13' on it. The elevator doors open, revealing what looks like a massive balcony. A clear glass rail borders the edge, not that it's needed. Enobaria explained to me before that there's a force field that springs you back up if you jump off. "Cato, you need to stop growing feelings for that scum bag. This was not part of the plan. Making her fall in love with you to get sponsors was. You need to find out what your priorities are Cato." she snaps at me.

"I am not falling for her. She means nothing to me." I growl back to her.

"You'd better be right Cato." she says walking off, leaving me alone.

I walked over to the edge and slumped down against the glass. I don't know what I was going to do. I knew for a fact that I didn't like 12, I just needed the sponsors. It seamed only fair. She took them away from me, and she was going to get them back for me. She just doesn't know it.

"Well well well 2" someone calls from the shadows. He comes into view and I can see that's it's Peeta.

"What do you want 12" I growl, "I'm really not in the mood for you"

"She's just for sponsors is she? I wonder what she'll say when she finds out" he growls back to me.

Without thinking I stand up and lunge at him, pinning him against the wall with my arm against his throat. "Don't even bother. If you do, you'll be the first one I kill. I swear." I spit at him.

He scrambles at my arm with his hand, "Well, you'll just have to see who she chooses tomorrow night then wont you. Someone who saved her life, or someone who wants to end it" he says between chokes.

"She wont choose you. Katniss is mine. Don't you ever forget it" I growl, releasing him from my grip.

**Katniss POV**

"Katniss, I need to speak to you" Peeta says as I take my seat at the table.

"About what? How you don't want to train with me any more? How you betrayed me?" I snap at him. It was the first time I'd seen him since yesterday. How dare he.

"Don't go getting in a mood with me, you're the one who went off with the careers." he snaps back.

"You know what I'm not hungry any more" I stand up, knocking my chair backwards a little.

"Katniss come back, I didn't mean it" he says just before I slam the door. Blocking him from my sight. I hit my bed just as the tears come, sobbing myself to sleep.

* * *

In the morning I'm woken up by my prep team hanging over me. This is the day that I belong to Cinna. He's my last hope. Maybe he will make me look so wonderful, no-one will care what comes out of my mouth.

The team work on me until late afternoon, turning my skin to glowing satin, stencilling patterns on my arms, painting flame designs on my twenty perfect nails. Then Venia goes to work on my hair, weaving strands of red into a pattern that begins at my left ear, wraps around my head, and then falls in one braid down my right shoulder. They erase my face with a layer of pale make-up and draw my features back out. Huge dark eyes, full red lips, lashes that throw off bits of light when I blink. Finally, they cover my entire body in a powder that makes me shimmer in gold dust.

Then Cinna enters with what I assume is my dress, but I can't really see it because it's covered "Close your eyes" he orders.

I can feel the silken inside as they slip it down over my naked body, then the weight. It must be twenty kilos. I clutch Cinna's hand as I blindly step into my shoes, glad to find that they are at least five centimetres lower than the ones Effie had me practise in. there's some adjusting and fidgeting. Then silence.

"Can I open my eyes?" I ask.

"Yes" says Cinna, "Open them"

The creature standing before me is from another world. Her skin shimmers and eyes flash, her dress is made of jewels. Because what my prep team has done is unimaginable. My dress is completely covered in reflective precious gems, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that ascent the tips of the flame design. The slightest movement gives the impression that I am engulfed in fire.

I am as radiant as the sun.

"Thank you so much" I say to them all.

"Twirl for me" Cinna says. I hold out my arms and spin in a circle. The prep team screams in admiration.

Cinna dismisses the team and has me move around in the dress and shoes, which are infinitely more manageable that Effie's. The dress hangs in such a way that I don't have to lift the skirt when I walk.

"Come on then, I'll escort you down if you'd like?" he says.

"I'd love you too" I say.

"Are you all ready for the interview then?" he asks, I can see by his expression that he knows I'm not.

"I'm awful, I just can't be one of those people they all want me to be" I say.

"Well why don't you try being yourself?" he says after a moments silence.

He walks out of the door and I follow him. We meet up with the rest of the District 12 lot and I'm overcome with stage fright. I can't do this. Be myself? How can I be myself? I'm not a girl who wears pretty dresses and gets set on fire. I'm a girl who breaks the law everyday just to put food on the table. I'm the girl who scrapes by with just enough food to escape starvation. I am not the girl they want me to be.

* * *

**Thank you for reading this. Unfortunately I'm going back to school tomorrow (05.09.12) so i wont be able to update everyday like i have been. hopefully i will be able to update once a week or more. I'm so sorry, but it's not my fault, it's the schools! i love you all. and thank you Strawberryluv for your amazing ideas as usual! x x x**


	8. Chapter 8: He Doesn't Love Her

**Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long, I feel so bad for not being able to update for 3 days! BUT OMG GUYS THE HUNGER GAMES IS OUT ON DVD! I actually cry at the end when Katniss shoots Cato, it's just so wrong! Anyway, enough with that, on with the chapter!:-)**

**Chapter 8: He doesn't love her**

When the elevator doors open, the other tributes are being lined up to take the stage. All twenty-four of us sit in a big arc throughout the interviews. I'll be last, or second to last as the girl tribute precedes the boy from each district. Oh how I wish could go first. Instead I'll be forced to listen to how charming, witty, humble and fierce everyone else is. Plus the audience will start to get bored, just like the Gamemakers; but I can't exactly shoot an apple to get their attention. When we are called onto the stage my heart stops. Cheers and screams is all you can hear. Cheers of Cato and Clove. Marvel and Glimmer. Most surprisingly though, screams of Katniss can be heard amongst the others.

"Ladies and Gentleman! Welcome to the 74th annual Hunger Games!" Caeser Fickerman says, dragging it out for more effect. "What a wonderful bunch of tributes we have this year! Some of which have literally been on fire!" he laughs. The cameras flick to the faces of Peeta and I smiling. "Shall we begin?" he asks to the crowd, receiving chants of "Yes" back.

First up is Glimmer. As usual she is showing far to much skin and results to flirting and charming throughout the interview. Marvel goes about in a cocky way, almost trying to be like Cato. Failing miserably. Clove comes on next, accepting her training score of ten humbly. Saying she never knew she was really that good. Obviously no-one believes her. We've all seen her train. The next tribute up is Cato himself, he walks on wearing a midnight blue silk suit matching his blue eyes. He's left his hair in his usual messy wild style. He shakes hands with Caeser and sits down.

"So Cato, first of congratulations on the ten you've received in training" Caeser says, making a big show of clapping.

Cato laughs, "Thank you. We all knew I would score high though right?" he states cockily.

"We all defiantly had an incline" Caeser says, "However no-one would have thought of a tribute from District 12 beating you. How did you feel when you found out?

"I was frustrated indeed, but Katniss deserves the eleven" Cato answers.

"So you know how she got it then?" Caeser asks, trying to get Cato to spill the beans.

"Yes I do. She showed me what she could do after I asked her to become a member of my alliance" Cato lies. However he wasn't far off the truth. He had also just revealed to everyone watching, the other tributes and even my family that I was now a career. That I was now a ruthless killing machine.

"So what do you think of Katniss as a person then?" Caeser asks him. A double meaning was laced in his question.

"Katniss is a really special girl, I've became quite close to her over these last few days, it's just a shame that we met here at the Hunger Games. I can't help but wonder what could have been" Cato's voice sounds upset and genuine. My face drops, my mouth hanging open in shock. I can't believe what he's just said, let alone register it. I try to stay looking calm, but I don't know if I can manage it.

"That is a shame" Caeser says just as the buzzer goes off, signalling the end of his interview. "The tribute of District 2 ladies and gentleman, and I think I speak on behalf of all of Panem, our hearts go with you" he continues, holding Cato's hand high in the air.

Cato takes his seat next to Clove and the interviews continue. My palm are sweating like crazy at just the thought of my own interview, knowing that the main topic of conversation will be Cato. The crippled boy from 10 is quiet and scared. Rue, who is dressed in a gossamer gown complete with wings, flutters her way to Caeser. A hush falls over the crowd at the very sight of this magical wisp of a tribute. Caeser's very sweet with her, complimenting her seven in training, an excellent score for one so small. When he asks her what her greatest strength in the arena will be, she doesn't hesitate. "I'm very hard to catch" she says. "And if they can't catch me, they can't kill me. So don't count me out"

"I wouldn't in a million years" says Caeser encouragingly.

The giant tribute from District 11, Thresh, is one of the giants. He stands at around six and a half feet and is built like an ox. He's not one of the careers though, so he will undoubtedly be one of the main targets tomorrow. He's blunt to Caeser, giving only one worded answers or just a grunt. If I was his size I bet I could get away with sullen and hostile, whilst still getting plenty of sponsors.

Then they're calling Katniss Everdeen, and I feel myself standing and making my way centre stage. I shake Caeser's outstretched hand, and he has the good grace to not immediately wipe his hand off on his suit.

"So Katniss, tonight must have been a very interesting one" he says, jumping straight into what everyone else wants to know. I should have known he would really, with me only having three minutes to talk about it.

"You could say that" I say quietly.

Caeser laughs, and vaguely I realize some of the audience has joined in.

"So tell us Katniss, when did you start spending time with Cato, because a little birdy told me it wasn't in training" Caeser asks, the camera flicks to Cato and I can see for a second that he's smirking.

"No it wasn't in training, it was when we went for jogs at night" I reply honestly. The crowd sigh and "aw" at my answer. The Capitol people are just too easy to please.

"Is this what led to you becoming a career" he asks.

"Well yes that, and other things" I smirk, not letting on to the "Other things". As much as the other tributes already think I'm a threat, I don't want them to know by how much.

"Other things, care to elaborate?" he presses.

"Caeser I'm sorry, but there are things that you will just have to wait and see about" I laugh to him in my response.

"Now Katniss, lets jump back a few days." he says, "When you came out in the opening ceremony my heart stopped, what did you think of that costume?"

"You mean once I'd gotten over the fear of burning alive?" I ask back humorously.

"Yes. Start then" says Caeser.

I look into the audience and find Cinna, directing my answer straight to him. "I thought Cinna was brilliant and it was the most gorgeous costume I'd ever seen and I really couldn't believe I was lucky enough to wear it. I can't believe I'm wearing this either." I lift up my skirt and spread it out. "I mean, look at it!"

as the audience _oohs _and _ahs_, I see Cinna make the tiniest circular motion with his finger. But I know what he's saying. _Twirl for me. _

I spin in a circle and the reaction is almost immediate.

"Oh, do that again!" says Caeser, and so I lift up my arms and spin around, letting the skirt fly out, letting the dress engulf me in flames. The audience breaks into cheers. When I stop I clutch Caeser's arm.

"Don't stop!" he says.

"I have to, I'm dizzy!" I'm also giggling, which I think I've only ever done about once in my lifetime.

Caeser throws a protective arm around me before turning his head towards Cato, "Don't worry Cato, I'm only holding her so she doesn't fall" he says. I can see Cato's smile and laugh on the screen in front of me before it changes back to Caeser and I.

"So how about that training score. E-le-ven. Give us a hint what happened in there" he asks, moving the interview forward.

I glance at the Gamemakers on the balcony and bite my lip. "Um... all I can say is I think it was a first"

The cameras are right on the Gamemakers, who are all chuckling and nodding.

"You're killing us" says Caeser as if in actual pain. "Details. Details."

I address the balcony, "I'm not supposed to talk about it, right?"

The Gamemaker who fell in the punch bowl shouts out, "She's not!"

"Thank you" I say, "Sorry my lips are sealed."

"Lets go back then, to the moment of the reaping. When they called your sisters name out. Can you tell us what was going through your head?" Caeser asks.

No, anything but that. I stay silent for a moment. Hoping to come across as upset. Not disgusted that he asked that. "I was just scared. Scared for Prim, and scared for what I would do without her. I was just wanting her to be safe again. I the only thing I could to make her safe again, without breaking the law. I volunteered to keep her safe." I say. The whole audience is silent. Silent for the right reason I hope.

"Of course you did, I'm sure anyone else would have done the same in your position" Caeser lies, he knows what he just said was untrue. It was the first time it had ever happened, no-one has ever volunteered for their sibling in the history of the Games. The buzzer sounds and I walk back to my seat, Peeta brushes along side me as he goes to take centre stage. I whisper "Good luck" to him at sit down.

I'm still not completely there for the first part of Peeta's interview. He has the audience from the get-go, though; I can hear them laughing, shouting out. He plays up the Baker's son thing, comparing the other tributes to the breads from their districts. Then he has a funny anecdote about the perils of the Capitol showers. "Tell me, do I smell like roses to you?" he asks Caeser, and then there's a whole run where they take turns sniffing each other that brings down the house. I'm coming back into focus when Caeser asks him if he has a girlfriend back home.

Peeta hesitates, then gives an unconvincing shake of his head.

"Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come on, what's her name?" Caeser asks.

Peeta sighs. "Well there is this one girl. I've had a crush on her since forever, but I'm pretty sure she didn't notice me until the reaping."

sounds of sympathy from the crowd. Unrequited love they can relate to.

"She have another fellow?" asks Caeser.

"I don't know, but I've found out another boy likes her" Peeta answers.

"Well this is what you do, you win the Games. Go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?" says Caeser encouragingly.

"I don't think that will help this time" Peeta says without emotion.

"Why ever not?" Caeser asks.

"Because.. Because she came here with me" Peeta whispers, his cheeks turning bright red.

"Well that is a stroke of bad luck! And to be in a love triangle too!" Caeser say.

I can see Peeta become angry now, obviously realising that he has just entered himself into the love triangle. Cato, Katniss and Peeta. What joy. "There is no love between Cato and Katniss, well not on Cato's behalf anyway. Cato is only doing it so she will become a career and less of a threat in the games. He's doing it to play with her head and to gain sponsors. He doesn't know her at all. Not like I do. He doesn't know that when she sings the birds stop to listen as well. He wasn't there to feed her when she was dying of starvation, I was. He knows nothing about Katniss apart from that he needs to use her to get the sponsors he lost back" Peeta says. The whole place is stunned in silence, the crowd, Caeser, Gamemakers and the other tributes. I can feel myself shaking in anger. Not knowing who to believe. Could Peeta be right? Is Cato only using me for sponsors? Or does he genuinely wish we had met a different way? Why is Peeta doing this now?

* * *

**ooo! Next chapter is going to be a difficult one, I need your advice. Should i kill Peeta in the bloodbath/early on and have Katniss upset and grieving or should I leave him alone and have him left in the final five tributes? Up to you! Thank you to Strawberryluv and sundragons9 for their input and lovely reviews! Love you all x**


	9. Chapter 9: I Don't Trust You

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry that I can't update much as usual, but it's honestly my schools fault! I've been back a week and a half and I've been given 4 projects, and 6 pieces of homework just this week! I don't think they want me to have any kind of social life! But enough, on with the chapter!**

**Chapter 9: I Don't Trust You**

"Just remember Katniss, you don't owe anybody. You don't have to become a career, you can just as easily run away" Cinna says during our 10 second hug. He was the last person I would see before I turned into a blood craving monster.

"Cinna I can't do this" I say shakenly. I hadn't noticed I was walking towards the launch tube until I was stood right in front of it. 2 steps and for me, the games would be started.

"Katniss" he says, walking over to me. He puts his forefinger underneath my chin gently. "I'm not aloud to bet, but if I could. I'd bet on you" he says softly, then gives me a quick kiss on the cheek.

I smile to him before making them last 2 steps. Suddenly once I'm inside the tube snaps shut. Locking me in, and everyone else out. As it begins to raise I'm blinded by light. What would the arena be like? Would it have a wood? Water? At least in 2 seconds I'll know.

I rise up at the same time as everyone else. A huge clearing with the cornucopia in the centre is surrounded by woods and wheat fields. I can see a lake in the background, hopefully a good source of water. If I can survive the bloodbath that is.

"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the 74th Hunger Games" Claudius Templesmith addresses the millions of viewers waiting to watch 23 of us die. In the sky a holographic Seal of Panem appears with a large 60 in the centre. "Let the Games begin" he says, and as soon as he's finished speaking the timer starts to count down.

Sixty seconds. We are required to stay on our platform for sixty seconds. If we move before the time is up and we'll set off the land mines and be blown sky high. 40 seconds. I can see Cato standing 2 tributes away from me. With his eyes I can see him telling me to run to the cornucopia. And into the bloodbath.

30 seconds. Almost opposite me I can see Peeta shaking his head. Telling me to run away.

20 seconds. Either way I run it's a death sentence, surely it makes sense to run in the direction that will prolong my life. The question is, which direction does? Cato or Peeta? Longer life or a shorter one?

Ten, nine, eight. Run to Cato. Seven, six. But Peeta would protect me to. Five, four, three. Get a bow from the cornucopia. Decide later. Two, one.

There's a short pause before everything becomes a blur. I'm still stood still when nearly everyone who's going to the cornucopia is half way there.

I begin to run after them, chasing them all down. I bend down quickly and grab a small knife. At least I'm sort of armed. Cato is just getting close to the cornucopia. He bends down and grabs a mace. He swings around and the mace makes contact with the unlucky boy from 4. Cato continues running, bending down momentarily to pick up a knife and throw it into the back of the girl from 4. I stop suddenly and stare at everyone. Glimmer shooting tributes down with a bow- terribly I may add. That girl has an awful aim. Marvel is taunting the girl from 7, his spear is sticking up from her leg. Pinning her down as he teases her with his knife. Surprisingly Clove is the only member of the career pack not fighting. Instead she searches frantically through supply bags and various crates.

The boy from 7 runs at me, knife in his hand. I brace myself for a fight. I don't run to meet him, opting to save my energy for the fight. When he is metres away from me my face is sprayed with his blood. He falls forward, flat on his face. A knife sticking up from the back of his neck. Clove stands behind him with a sadistic grin on her face. Knives was what she was searching for. I should have known she wouldn't have stayed out of the initial fight.

I start up my run again, her hand flutters to the knife tucked into her belt before her face shows realisation. She turns and runs in a different direction to me. She throws two more knives, each hitting their mark. The girl from 3 and the boy from 8.

As I get to the the mouth of the cornucopia I'm confronted by the tip of a sword. I close my eyes, hoping that they'll make it quick. The cold pointy tip lowers and I hear Cato's smug laughter.

"She's nicked your bow because you didn't run like the rest of us" he says, keeping his sword in a ready position.

"There might be another one around here somewhere" I say hopefully.

"I've looked. There's not" he smirks to me. "Duck" he says bluntly, sending his sword through the neck of the male from 5 when I do.

"Thanks, I guess" I say when I straighten up.

"You don't trust me" he says flatly.

"No. I don't" I say as flatly as he did. I grab a spear from the inside wall and run out of the mouth. In a fit of rage I send the spear through the chest of a retreating tribute. My first kill. And I don't feel a thing. Clove throws her knife at the last tribute left alive, apart from us, at the cornucopia. The ground is littered with the fallen. I scan around and see 11 tributes in various positions. Each with a different fatal blow. The only thing they had in common was that they were all dead. The were never going home. They would never see there families again. I scan around the fallen again and let out a sigh of relief that Peeta is not amongst them. Peeta's alive. For now at least.

"Katniss" Marvel calls to me, "Come here, we need to decide what to do next"

I turn on my heals and return to the cornucopia. Cato, Clove and Glimmer are sat in various positions on upturned crates. Marvel stands up leaning against the inside. "So what now then?" I ask.

"Gather supplies, and weapons. Hunt the remaining." Cato says. The rest nod and grunt in agreement. "Glimmer give Katniss the bow. Me and her are going to the lake" he adds.

"What! No! This bow is mine" she screams angrily. Her icy eyes glaring at Cato's.

"Just do it. If someone's using that bow it will be Katniss. At least she aims right" Cato says angrily and quickly.

Glimmer throws the bow and matching quiver at my feet knowing better than to argue with him. I pick the bow up and sling the quiver over my shoulder.

Cato stands up and grabs his sword. "Come on then" he says to me. Walking past and out of the mouth.

"Why?" I say. He turns around and glare at me. I make no attempt to move. I'm not scared of him like Glimmer is. Not at this moment anyway.

"You either come voluntary or involuntary. You decide" he says. I sit down showing him my answer. He sighs and stabs the point of his sword into the ground, leaving it there as he bends down and scoops me up and throws me over his shoulder. I let out a scream and continuously punch and slap his back.

"Will you stop it? You're the one who decided this" he growls at me, picking up his sword and continues to walk away from the cornucopia- towards the lake.

"No I didn't. Put. Me. Down. Now." I growl back at him.

"I gave you a choice, you sat down as your decision. I did warn you" he says, readjusting the grip he has on me.

"You're the most annoying person I've ever met" I mumble, unsure whether he heard me or not.

The trek to the lake didn't take long. It would have been quicker if he'd let me walk. The lake has been put in a clearing. Not as big as the clearing with the cornucopia, but big enough for a lake and some death fights.

"Why are we here?" I ask him as he lays me down on the ground.

"Because as attractive as you are, you're covered in blood." he says, pointing to me. Only then do I realise he's right. It's not much but it's covered my arms, neck and top. "And we need to talk"

I pull myself up to a seated position and place my bow to the right of me. _Just in case. _He follows my lead and sits down directly in front of me, stabbing his sword into the ground next to him.

"What's there to talk about?" I ask bluntly.

His face hardens, "Peeta." he spits out.

"You mean the other guy who declared his feelings for me to the whole of Panem." I say sarcastically. "And exposed you" I say.

"He didn't expose me, there's nothing to expose." he says angrily.

"Then why would he say it?" I snap back at him.

"Because he's lying and jealous?" he retorts,

"Cato, he has no reason to lie to me." I whisper.

He lifts his hand and brushes it along my arm softly, "He must just be jealous that you've known me a week and you're already closer than what you and him are; and you've known him most of your life" he whispers back softly.

"Don't do this" I snap at him, trying to fight back the tears I can feel forming.

"Do what?" he asks, genuinely confused.

I stand up and walk to the edge of the lake. "Talk to me like I'm nothing to you one minute, and then do all the soft caring stuff" I say quietly.

I hear him get up and walk to where I am. "Then what do you want me to do?" he asks me softly.

I turn my head toward him, "Go back to being the cocky arrogant Cato you was before. The one who smirked at everything and didn't have a multiple personality" I snap at him.

Within seconds he's scooped me up again and I'm screaming. "Cocky and arrogant" he smirks at me. He runs into the lake and drops me into it.

The cool water submerges me and it feels so nice. Cato dropped me in a shallow area so I'm able to stand up. The water comes up to both of our waists and we're both in fits of laughter. "That was totally uncalled for!" I yell playfully at him.

"Well, it's only you who thinks that" he says, splashing me in the face with the cool water.

I jump on him and push him under. The water around him turns a pinky red colour from the diluted blood washing off his body. When I release my grip on him he springs back up immediately.

"Ok, I think we're even now" he laughs at me. Without thinking I crash my lips onto his, he's stunned at first but soon melts into it. He pulls me closer to him and I wrap my legs around his waist. A smile grows on both of our lips. He wraps his arms around me and begins to walk out of the lake, never breaking the kiss. When I can feel that we're no longer in the water I unwrap my legs from around me and set them down on the grass. I pull away first needed to breathe.

"What was that for?" he asks smugly.

"I don't know. For being you" I lie to him.

"We should go back, they wont know what to do without me." he smirks to me, and we begin the trek back to the cornucopia.

I was doing the same as him now, keeping up pretences for the sponsors. I don't trust him, and I never will. I don't know who to believe, Cato or Peeta? My head tells me that Peeta is the right option, my heart though? My heart wants to believe that Cato would never do such a thing. But even it has to believe in logic; and logically Cato having feelings for me so he can gain back his sponsors was more likely than him actually liking a girl from a scum district.

* * *

**Well thank-you for reading! And a big thank you once again to Strawberryluv for the amazing ideas and lovely compliments! I love you!xxx**


	10. Chapter : Let The Games Begin

**Well hello there! First off i want to appologise from the bottom of my heart for the long wait! I don't know what happened, but it's honestly been the bussiest 3 weeks of my life! Anyway, on with the story..**

**Chapter 10: The Game Begins  
**

"Clove?" I yell when Katniss and I come into the clearing. The others obviously cleared out for a while since the bodies had been removed.

"Yeah?" she yells back, her voice coming from somewhere in the woods.

"Where are you?" I laugh back to her.

Five metres away a bush rustles and automatically I position myself in a stance.

"Relax, it's only me" Clove laughs to me as she walks out the bushes.

"Whatever" I mumble, lowering my sword but not fully relaxing. To my side I can see Katniss lowering her bow and walk towards Clove.

"Cato you're back!" Glimmer says with enthusiasm. I see her eyes flicker to Katniss and the bow, "Give me my bow" she coldly addresses her.

Without arguing Katniss hands the bow over and takes a seat next to Marvel.

"And the arrows" Glimmer adds when she doesn't receive them.

"You never asked for them" Katniss says sarcastically. I let out a low laugh, earning a glare from Glimmer.

Glimmer mutters something under her breath that no-one can quite hear; but Katniss knowing it will be about her smiles sweetly.

"Calm down you two, an alliance normally lasts at least one night" Marvel laughs, "Besides we have an hour to kill before it gets dark." he adds.

Last night we'd all agreed that we would hunt the stragglers once it got dark, picking off the easy ones stupid enough to light a fire because they can't take the cold.

"What shall we do then?" Clove asks, her voice laced with boredom.

"Set up a fire? And play a game?" Katniss suggests.

"How old do you think we are? 5?" Glimmer laughs.

"Not games like hide and seek Glimmer. Ones like spin the bottle or truth or dare." Katniss replies.

"Make the fire then, girl on fire" I say, using the irony of her nickname.

She smirks at me before going to gather some wood. "Pass me some matches" she says once she's arranging the wood. Clove rustles around in a bag before retrieving the matches and throwing them to her. Katniss catches them and lights the fire.

She takes her original seat next to me and leans back onto my arm. I wrap it around her and she snuggles into my chest. Clove sends me a smirk and Glimmer a glare.

"Truth or Dare then?" Marvel says once Clove and Glimmer sit in a circle around the fire.

"Glimmer, truth or dare?" Clove asks her.

"Truth" she answers. Her face showing that she would most probably never pick 'dare'.

"Out of anyone you like, who would you kiss" Clove asks looking at me with a huge coy smirk on her face.

Glimmer turns her head to me, and looks up at me through her eyelashes. "Cato" she answers, her voice full of fake lust. My body stiffens and I try to look smug and please about her choice. Katniss puts her head into my chest and lets out a laugh. The sound muffled by my body.

"Katniss, truth or dare?" Glimmer asks her.

"Truth?" she replies quickly.

"If Prim and your hunting partner were in a fire, and you could only save one of them. Who would it be?" She asks with a sarcastic smile displayed proudly over her face.

Katniss takes in a deep breath. Her body stiffens next to mine and she stays silent for a couple of minutes.

"Prim" She whispers.

"Sorry what?" Glimmer asks again.

Katniss lifts her head high and looks directly into Glimmer's eyes. "I would save Prim first" she answers again. "But I would go straight back in for him. Because he would do them same for me"

"Oh how sweet" Glimmer replies coldly.

"Cato, truth or dare?" Marvel asks me.

"Dare" I say.

"I dare you to strip naked and sit in the clearing without a weapon for ten minutes." he says. If it was anyone else I would say no straight away. Unarmed in the Games? No way! But since it was Marvel, and he wouldn't offer up much threat; and who else was there really? Peeta? He wouldn't dare, not yet anyway. The male from 11? He wouldn't risk it just yet.

I stood up and began unbuttoning my shirt. Once it had fell to the floor I unbuckled by belt and let my trousers follow. I walked over to the bush Clove appeared from and kicked my boots off. I continued walking, removing my under vest and throwing it to the ground. Only when I was at the very edge of the clearing did I remove the final item of clothing I had left on. Instinctively I placed my hands around my 'private area' to cover them. I kicked my boxers back over the bush earning a horrible high pitched squeal from Glimmer.

I sat down in the openness quickly, wishing the minutes away. It's quiet, not even the calls of mockingjays can be heard. The only sounds come from the rest of the careers talking amongst themselves, but even that sounds like it's been turned down low. I wonder if the Gamemakers have the ability to do that? To make everything quiet. To isolate you from the people who would possibly help. The snapping of a twig has me up on my feet, not caring about being exposed- literally.

The groan of a male can be heard to my left, the sound of someone realising I know they're there. I wait patiently for them to make a move, being in the situation I was in I didn't think it would be a sensible approach to run at someone unarmed, as careless as they might be. Finally the male came into view and simultaneously we ran at each other. Without stopping to think I put him into a headlock and snapped his neck. The boy fell to the floor with a thud and a clank. The clan coming from the knife that was splattered with blood. It was only then that I saw the slit he had made into my thigh, nothing that would cause me any problem though.

**Katniss POV**

I wince at how easily he can take a life. His ability to snap a neck as if it was a pencil. To chuck a lifeless body to the ground as if it was just one of the fake dummies. As I approach him I snap a twig and his head jerks to see me.

"Katniss" he whispers, the sympathetic look in his eyes. He stretches out his hand to me and I just look at it.

"Cato, you're naked." I state.

He laughs at me, "Well, yeah I didn't have enough time to ask him politely if I could get dressed" he replies with his usual sarcastic tone.

"Well you have enough time now, I'll cover you" I say, averting my eyes from anywhere that would be extremely awkward to be caught looking at.

"I wish you would" he mumbles half walking half running into the bush to collect his clothes.

I give him a three minute head start before making my way back through the bushes and to the rest of the group.

"It's getting late" I say to break the awkward tension. As answer to my statement a canon boomed. _One, two, three.. nine, ten, eleven, twelve. _Twelve dead. Half gone already. In one day.

"Come on, lets go" Cato's voice is full of authority and demand.

Cato picks up his sword and slides it in his belt, grabs a backpack and throws it over his shoulders. I watch the rest of them do something similar, Glimmer throws the bow across her arm and glares at me for having the quiver. Simultaneously we all start off in a jog that I think I can maintain for a while. For the next few hours we alternate between jogging and walking, never finding anything 'interesting'. We keep moving, pausing only when Glimmer complains or to check for other tributes.

I can go for a long time. I know that from my days in the woods. But I know that I wont be able to last much longer without stopping. The woods begin to evolve, and the pines are intermixed with a variety of trees, some I recognize, some completely foreign to me. The ground slopes down. I don't particularly like this. Valleys make me feel trapped. I want to be high, like in the hills back in District 12., where I can see anything that approaches.

"We're not finding anything, lets rest for a while" I say stopping to prove my point.

To my surprise Cato stops suddenly and turns towards me, "Can't take much more fire girl?" he laughs smugly.

"No, I just don't see the point in wasting energy running when we haven't even found anything yet" I snap back at him quickly, even though what he said was the complete truth. He doesn't need to know it.

"Alright, lets leave it for the night." he says to the rest of the group.

At his words I throw the backpack of my back and slump down next to it, exhausted. Rummaging in it for a while I finally find the flask of water I so desperately need. Without thinking I gulp down at least half before forcing myself to stop. Cato slumps down next to me and puts his hand out to me, I give him the flask and he drinks the remaining water, throwing me back the empty flask.

"You've drunk it all" I stare at him. What is he thinking? What if we can't find another water source? The lakes at least a day's walk away now.

"We have sponsors, they'll probably give us tea and coffee's" he says with a smile. I should have known his answer to everything would be sponsors. Who's ever heard of a career going without something? Never.

"And if they don't?" I say, because after all there is always the possibility.

"We go back to the lake" he replies.

"Its at least a day away now" I inform him.

"We'll survive Katniss" he says, looking at me. His eyes giving me reassurance.

When the anthem plays it takes all of us by surprise. None of us had even noticed just how dark its gotten. Through the branches I can see the seal of the Capitol, which appears to be floating in the sky. I'm actually viewing another screen, an enormous one that's transported by one of their disappearing hovercraft. The anthem fades out and the sky goes dark for a moment. At home, we would be viewing full coverage of each and every killing, but that's thought to give an unfair advantage to the living tributes. For instance, if someone had a secret weapon and killed someone using it, we would all know. No, here in the arena all we see are the same photographs they showed when they televised our training scores. Simple head shots. But now instead of scores they post only district numbers, I take a deep breath and prepare myself for the possibility of Peeta's face being shown on the screen.

The first to appear is the girl from District 3. Telling the rest of the tributes what I already know. The careers from 1 and 2 are still alive. Then the boy from 4. The boy from 5... I guess the fox-faced girl made it. Both tributes from 6 and 7. The boy from 8. Both from 9. And both from 10. The boy that Cato killed out in the clearing.

Peeta's still alive. I breathe out a sigh of relief, Cato raises his eyebrow at me and I shake it off. He must know that I would want Peeta to survive at least one day? Cato begins to say something but is cut off by the arrival of a parachute. We have a gift from a sponsor! Marvel bends down and picks it up. Showing us all 3 bowls of steaming soup, along with a note.

"It's for Katniss" he says, and then passes it to me.

I take it quickly, thinking that he would be reluctant to hand it over to me. A small piece of paper folded in half and stuck together with something sticky. On one side it is addressed 'Katniss' in typed letters. I unfold it and begin to read the short note.

_Be careful, and stay alive H_

Instinctively I fold the note up and shove it in my backpack, not wanting anyone to be able to read it.

"What did it say?" Cato asks suspiciously. His eyes darting to the pack that I shoved it in.

"It was just Haymitch telling me to stay alive." I say as convincingly as I can. "It was our little joke leading up to this" I say. It wasn't a lie, we did have a little joke about it. It just wasn't the whole truth, but Cato didn't need to know that.

"Lets eat the soup before it gets cold" he says. He takes a bowl of soup and tow spoons, giving one to me.

"Thank you" I say politely, and then very quickly eating as much soup as I can. The fish soup was lovely. If I closed my eyes for a moment I could imagine Haymitch and Cinna talking about the up and coming interviews. Effie would be telling me to "Mind your manners!" for eating the soup too quickly.

"It's not a race you know" he laughs at me. I couldn't help but notice that he finished at the same time as me.

"You could remind yourself that" I laugh back at him.

"Hey look. In the sky. Smoke" Clove says pointing up through the trees, a cunning grin on her face.

My eyes follow her hand and, like she said, smoke was appearing from the woods.

"It's not far from here, lets go" Cato snaps, picking up his sword.

"And if it's a trap?" I say, the possibility unlikely though.

"There's 5 of us, we'll be fine" he replies harshly.

By the time I get up and replace the backpack on my back the rest of them are running off into the woods, Cato leading. Silently I follow them, never snapping a twig or rustling a leaf. Hunting back home had taught me at least 3 helpful skills. Archery, foraging and silent running. Maybe Gale was right, maybe I could come home. _Not the time Katniss, not the time._

Within minutes we're near the source of the smoke. Cato slows down and signals us to create a circle around the unsuspecting tribute. Trapping them.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Cato says mockingly.

The girl turns at an instant towards him, her breathing suddenly increasing. She must know it's the end for her.

"Please, I'll do anything. Take what you want." she begins to plead, begging for her life like a dog begs for treats. She moves her head around and looks for an exit. My stomach drops when I realise that I'm playing a part in her death. I'm cutting off her only exit from us.

"Take what I want?" he asks rhetorically, "I want your life" he says with a sadistic grin.

"No please, anything" she begs again, but is cut off my Cato lunging forward.

She lets out a liquid choke and falls to the floor with a thud.

"13 down, 10 to go!" Glimmer squeals her excitement. Does she not realise that she is going to be part of that 10? Does she not realise that she has no chance of winning as long as Cato and Clove are alive?

A cannon sounds, signalling the end of her life.

* * *

**Thank you for sticking with me! Big big big thanks to Strawberryluv for the amazing review like always, i really don't know what i'd do without them! They cheer me up so much, aw! Hope you enjoyed this, and i promise (cross my heart, hope to die) I will get back to the a chapter a week! Love you all x x**


	11. Chapter 11: Stop It

**OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY! I can't believe it has actually taken me nearly 4 months to write you another chapter! Gah, I'm sooooooo sorry. Pre warning, this was written on my iPod so the spelling and grammar might be awful!:(**

* * *

Chapter 11: Stop It

I wake up suddenly, my breathing irregular.

"Did someone have a nightmare?" Cato's voice comes from my left. I prop myself up on my elbows and turn to look at him. His hair looks golden in the predawn light.

"No, I didn't dream of anything." I say quickly.

"Then why was you thrashing about in your sleep?" he sarcastically asks me.

"Why were you watching me sleep?" I retort back to him.

"When you're on watch you're meant to watch out for movements, I can't help that I'm good at my job." he grins to me.

I don't answer; instead I just glare at him.

"Who's alive then?" I ask, knowing I don't care about any names other than Peeta's. I owe him my life after all.

"He's alive if that's what you want to know." Cato's voice surprises me. For a moment I thought there was sadness in his voice. I brush the thought off immediately however. Of course there wasn't.

"I couldn't care if he was alive or not." I lie. I'm good at hiding my emotions. Not showing anyone what I really feel, or saying what I really think. I used to scare my mother to death with all the things I used to blurt out about the Capitol. But I soon learnt that voicing my opinions would only lead me into trouble. Or worse Prim. I taught myself to keep my emotions in check. The only time I ever let myself go was in the woods. With Gale.

"Don't lie Katniss. I'm not stupid." he says, not looking me in the eye.

"Really? You're a very convincing actor." I laugh at my own joke and watch a smile creep over his face. "Get some sleep, I'll take over watch."

I watch as he lays down and uses his backpack as a pillow. "Are you sure?" he asks.

"Yes, I promise not to kill you in your sleep." I hear a small quiet chuckle from his direction and then nothing.

Hours pass with only slight change. As night turned to day I am able to take in the beauty of the Arena. Our camp was situated to the right of the lake, which so far looked like the only big source of water. A few small thin streams run off from the lake, but from the heat of yesterday they have begun to dry up.

Exactly one week ago, at this time, I would have been heading out into the woods to hunt. Pocket weighed down by Prim's goats cheese. I would have been making my way across the Meadow, underneath the small stretch of fence that's been lose for years. I would have retrieved my bow from the hollow log and made my way to Gale. Gale said the one place I'm happy, the only time he ever sees me smile is in the woods. I feel my face pull into a small smile as I think about him. How is he coping? Does he realise that teaming up with the careers, the group we have always hated, is my only chance? Or does he hate me for what I'm doing?

The sun is almost fully risen now. I wonder quickly if I should wake the others. Then I realise that might not be the best idea.

"Cato." I say quietly at first, "Cato wake up" I say, this time louder.

I watch as his eyes open suddenly and his hand goes straight to his sword. "Oh relax it's me." I say, rolling my eyes.

"You can never be too careful." he smiles to me.

"I need to go hunt, you need to come with me." I say quickly.

"Why do I need to come with you?" he asks, "We have good supplies."

Even I don't know why I need to go hunting. He's right of course, we do have food supplies. And if we ever ran out, which I highly doubt, we probably have enough sponsors between us to get food anyway.

"I just need to go." I say.

He stands up and stretches. His light green shirt rides up as he does; helplessly I am unable to draw my eyes away from his exposed chest. No one can deny it, Cato is beautiful.

"Like what you see?" Cato smirks to me, having caught me looking.

"Yes, you're beautiful." I say with a sarcastic tone.

"I do try." he laughs back. "Let's go."

Cato heads of into the woods but stops when he realises that I'm not following. Instead I walk over to wear Glimmer lays sleeping and take the bow and quiver she has left laying by her side.

I jog quickly to catch up to Cato. "Did you really think I would hunt with only a knife?" I say as I reach him.

"I forgot that you didn't have It." he says.

We walk in silence for a moment as I fling the quiver across my shoulder and place an arrow in the bow ready. For a moment I forget that I'm in the games. If I pretend well enough I could imagine that it was a usual morning hunting back in District 12.

"Where to?" Cato questions me.

"I don't know, I don't know where anything will be here. I don't know if there is anything." I say honestly.

"There must be birds, we heard them singing yesterday." he says.

"They'll be high in the treetops, keep a look out for any signs of game. You never know what they put in here." I say. I remember back to one year when there was no source of food, only the supplies the Gamemakers provided and sponsors. Over 3/4 of the tributes died of starvation within a week.

"There'll be something you can hunt. Even if it's a mutation of theirs." he says, with a serious tone.

We walk around for what seems like forever with no sign of anything. Not even tracks. Either there really is nothing to hunt or the Gamemakers are trying to make it even more difficult. I can almost hear them all laughing at us. It would be just my luck that they're purposely making animals avoid me. I don't even know if they can do that. I laugh at myself. They have the ability to throw 24 children into a cage and only let 1 come out. They can do anything.

"Katniss, third tree on your left." Cato tells me.

I follow his instructions and look up. Sat perched on a branch is a bird that I don't recognise. Instinctively I hear my father's voice, "Never eat something you're not 100 percent sure of Katniss" but then, I don't have to eat it.

Silently I take aim at the bird, drawing in a breath I release the arrow and send it flying through the air. I watch as the bird falls from the branch with an arrow in its eye.

"You're not too bad Fire girl." Cato says, sounding genuinely impressed.

We walk together to retrieve the bird. Up close I realise that it's a goosling. Why didn't I see that before? "So what do you want to do? Go back or continue hunting." Cato asks me.

"Neither." I reply honestly. "I want to stay here. I want to eat goosling and not worry about a thing."

"We'll go back in half an hour." he replies firmly. "They'll think we've eloped or something" he chuckles.

I sit down and rest my back up against the nearest tree. Cato comes and sits down beside me.

I let my mind wonder back to the other day, the interviews. Does Cato actually have feelings for me? Or is it just some ploy like Peeta warned?

"Do you ever wonder what you'd turn out like if you weren't poor?" Cato asks me.

His question takes me by surprise, because in all honestly, I've never thought about it. "I suppose I'd be nothing like I am now." I answer after a moment of silence.

"How come?" he asks. For a moment I think that he's be sarcastic but from the look on his face, it's clear that he's not.

"Because I would have had food. The only reason I hunt is because otherwise Prim would starve." I reply.

"Isn't hunting illegal though?" he questions.

"Yes, but I would rather take a bullet through my head than starve."

"See you keep proving my points." Cato says, a small smile creeping across his face.

"What?" I ask.

"You're unlike any other girl I know." he says. "I don't even think Clove would do that." he adds.

Part of me wants to believe that she would if she had no other option, but somehow I know Cato's right.

"We should start heading back." I say, "The others will be wondering where we are."

Cato stands up and offers me his hand. I accept and he helps me up, muttering a quick thank you we begin to walk back to camp.

"Where the hell have you been?" Glimmer cries as soon as we are in sight. In answer to her I wave the goosling around in the air. Why am I not surprised when she turns up her nose?

Without talking to anyone I relight the fire that had burnt out during the night. I am more than aware of the 4 eyes watching me as I skin and cook the goosling. "Would you like some?" I offer it to them, not wanting them to feel like I'm being rude.

With replies of "No." I begin to eat the leg.

**Cato POV**

How can she stomach that? Knowing that it could be full of all sorts of diseases and bacteria. I laugh inwardly at myself, I sound like Glimmer.

"We need to start tracking Peeta and Thresh, they're the biggest competition." I say towards Clove and Marvel.

"Let's go then." Clove says, immediately she stands up with a big childish grin on her face.

"We'll split off, track one each." I suggest, "Katniss and I will track Peeta." I finish. I glance over to her and see that she's stopped eating mid bite.

"Why can't I get Peeta?" Clove moans. I don't answer her, instead I give her a sarcastic look which she immediately understands.

"You, Glimmer and Marvel track Thresh. Last we knew he headed down into that wheat field. Take whatever you need." I tell them.

"What do we do when we find them?" she asks me.

"Kill them perhaps?" I laugh.

"You knew what I meant." she glares at me.

"Go back to the cornucopia and wait for us to come, we'll return if we see Thresh in the sky." I reply.

"At least you've recognised that I'll find my tribute first." she smirks to me.

"Whatever." I grumble. "Katniss hurry up. We leave in five."

"Sir yes sir." she mutters sarcastically, obviously intending for me not to hear.

I walk over to the supplies and begin to search through them. Deciding what I would need and what Katniss would need. A few minutes later Katniss joins me.

"Should we pack food or will you hunt?" I ask her bluntly.

"I'll hunt." she replies with no emotion.

"It has to happen at some point Katniss." I say softy, only loud enough for her to hear.

"Yes I know." she murmers.

"Do you still want to do it?" I ask her. Remembering back to when she burst in my room in a fit of rage demanding to be the one that ends his life.

"I'll decide when the time comes." is her only reply before she walks off and sits down beside a tree.

I continue packing two bags with vital supplies. Iodine, water bottles, sleeping bag, spare knives and spare clothes.

"You ready?" I ask her.

Katniss stands up and walks towards me. Without saying a word she takes one of the backpacks and heads off into the forest.

"See you later I guess." Clove says to me.

I fling the remaining backpack across my shoulder, slide my sword into my belt and break into a jog to catch up to Katniss.

"Walk or run?" she asks me when I get close.

"Walk." I reply.

Hours pass as we walk in silence. The only time Katniss ever says something is to ask for directions. Walking in the woods is easy for the both of us. Years of training has taught me to be able to avoid leaves and debris. Obviously hunting in the woods has helped Katniss avoid them too.

"It's getting dark, would you like to stop?" I ask her.

Without answering she flings her bow and backpack on the floor, "I'll make a fire."

I grab her arm and pull her back. She loses her footing and falls into my chest. "This is ridiculous, you knew this was going to happen." I say whilst tucking the hairs that have fallen from her braid behind her ear.

"It still doesn't make it any easier Cato." she says quietly, without looking up at me.

I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her in tighter against me. Lifting her chin with my finger I place a soft kiss on her lips. "I'll make it easier." I say against them.

She surprises me by pulling away and out of my arms. "Stop it. Just stop. Stop messing about with me. We both know Peeta's right, all you care about is getting back your beloved sponsors." she spits to me.

"Do you not realise that I don't need sponsors? Do you not realise that I could kill you in an instant? Is it not obvious that I care for you since you're still alive!" I yell at her.

"I'll make a fire." is her only response before she walks off further into the woods.

I take my sword and swing it into the closest tree. Memories of doing the same thing back home come flooding back. Whenever I get angry I always find my way to the training centre. I either take my anger out on Brutus or a dummy. Bark flies everywhere as I repeatedly slash away.

* * *

**ok so I want to apologise for taking so long. In all honesty I completely lost my inspiration for this, but somehow I've managed to get it back. I promise you all that I will be updating regularly and I am determined to finish this! I want to thank you all for reviewing and reading. And if you're one of the old readers THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING BACK! Not much action in this chapter, but I can tell you now something bigs happening in the next one. I need advice btw, would you like Catotans Katniss to admit their feelings soon or not? **

**Leave us a review! I love you! X x x**


	12. Chapter 12: Missed Shot

**I said I would update quicker than 4 months didn't I?;) thank you for the lovely reviews, it's made writing this easier! Pre warning, was written on my ipod so i appologise if the grammar/spelling is weird or wether my ipod has auto corrected something when it should have (hate it when it changes words without my permission : ) See you at the bottom! :-)**

* * *

Chapter 12: Missed Shot

Not talking to someone is normally relatively easy. You can ignore them, not answer them or even avoid them. But here, it's almost impossible. Without even thinking my eyes wander upwards and lock onto his, immediately we both look away. Neither one of us wanting to back down. I don't understand why he's in such a mood with me. All I did was tell him the truth. It's funny because he's so wrapped up in his own lie, he's begun to believe what he's trying to make me believe. The only thing stopping me from leaving is knowing that he'd find me. Knowing him he'd get a kick out of it. Almost like Clove does when she tracks someone.

I reach over to my backpack and pull out a bottle of water. It's only when I uncap it that I realise it's empty. A satisfied laugh comes from opposite me.

"Yes, it's hilarious isn't it." I say, "I've never seen something so funny before."

"I have." Cato smirks to me. "You're face is pretty hilarious." a sarcastic grin stretches across his face.

"You're so childish at times." I say angrily. I don't even know why I didn't expect his remark.

"Says the one who went off on one about nothing." he replies.

"Yes because you playing me around isn't nothing is it." I can feel the anger building up inside me.

"No it's not, because I'm doing nothing of the sort." he says loudly.

"Don't lie to me." I reply in the same volume as him.

"I'm not lying." Cato's voice gets quieter. Everything about his body language tells me to believe him. His face actually does look genuinely hurt. But for some reason, I know it's all just an act.

"Do you have any water?" I ask him.

"It'll cost you." he smirks to me.

"Don't play around Cato." he digs around in his own bag and retrieves an identical bottle of water.

"Kiss me and you can have the water." he waves the water bottle to tease me as he speaks.

"Go to hell." I growl at him.

"Only if you'll come with me." he laughs.

The temperature seems to have dropped dramatically within the last five minutes, so I sit closer to the fire.

"If you're cold why don't you get in your sleeping bag?" Cato says sarcastically.

I don't know why I didn't think of it before. How stupid am I? I reach over and grab my backpack. Instead of reaching around inside it I tip the contents out on to the floor beside me. Everything falls out except a sleeping bag.

"Is this a joke?" I say. When I look up Cato has already gotten into his own sleeping bag.

"Did you not pack one?" he says sarcastically.

"You packed the bags 2." I stand up and walk over to where he's laying. "Move over."

"What are you doing?" he asks me.

"Move over, we're going to have to share. I am not freezing to death because you wanted to try to be funny." Cato is such a child at times.

Without arguing he turns to his side and allows me to slide in. Instinctively my body moulds into his. He wraps an arm around me.

"I haven't forgiven you yet' I say.

"Whatever you say Fire Girl." he mumbles into my hair. I don't understand how his body can be so warm, but it is. I am spooning Cato in a sleeping bag because he purposely didn't bring two. Not because I want to. I most certainly do not want to.

I can feel the temperature rising quickly. A wonderful crackling sound fills my ears. "Katniss wake up." Cato yells into my ear. Why does he always have to ruin things? Slowly I open my eyes and I am greeted with his face only centimetres away from mine. Behind his is a strange orange glow that is illuminating his face. He steps to the side quickly seeing the confusion across my face. The orange is not just a glow. It is a wall of fire descending on us.

My first impulse is to get out of the sleeping bag and scramble away from the fire. Somehow I manage to get out of the sleeping bag and retrieve my bag. Next to it is all the supplies I tipped out earlier. Now that seems like the stupidest thing I've ever done. I shove everything in the bag quickly and throw it over my shoulder. I grab my bow and quiver and nod to Cato. I can see now that he has done the same.

What little time we had to make a head start on the fire has gone. There was no time to pack bags, but I had to. The fire seems only millimetres away now.

The world has transformed. Flames and smoke. Burning branches crack and fall from trees; showering my feet with sparks as they hit the ground. All I can do is follow Cato. But even he doesn't know which way to run really. I trust his sense of direction because his instincts must be sharper than my own. He's been trained to deal with this hasn't he?

Our boots catch on roots and fallen tree limbs. The heat is horrible, but worse than the heat is the smoke. I see, for only a moment, that Cato has pulled the top of his shirt up over his nose. I do the same. It doesn't do much but it offers a thin layer of protection I didn't have before.

This was no tributes camp fire that has gotten out of hand. This was the Gamemakers. The flames that bare down on me have an unnatural height. Things must have been too quiet yesterday, no deaths or near misses. The audience in the Capitol will be getting bored, claiming that these games are verging on dullness.

I jump over a fallen log, only I don't jump high enough. The tail end of my jacket catches fire and I have to stop to take it off. I glance up quickly and see that Cato has stopped too.

In a matter of minutes my throat is burning and the coughing begins. I can feel the smoke burning my lungs, cooking them up as I try desperately to breath in the little remaining air. Without my mind allowing them too I feel my legs give way and I fall down onto the forest floor. Still coughing. I must have fallen onto a log that had just caught fire. The burning sensation travels through my thigh.

The smoke has completely obscured what little view I had of Cato. So to my surprise, I jump a little when he appears beside me.

"Katniss we need to go." Cato tells me. I know we do. But I can't move. My legs won't allow me to even stand up.

Cato moves closer and throws me over his shoulder. I let my body go limp to make it a little more comfortable for him.

**Cato POV**

I'm slower now that I have extra weight. I break back into a run and head forwards. From what I can remember from my training this isn't allowed. Gamemakers are not allowed to directly kill us like this. All traps normally either lead us to each other or into a new trap. I'm hoping for the former, at least that way I know what to do.

I had only just moved to left when the first firebolt hit the tree beside me. Immediately I am aware. Energised from the fear and adrenaline. When I hear the next hiss it takes me only a second to move out of the way of it. I begin to regret picking up Katniss now. Why hadn't I been able to just leave her there?

I run faster, zig zagging away from the firebolts. The lake. It's driving us to the lake. But why?

Knowing the destination seems to have had an effect on my navigation. Instinctively I am able to find the path we need to take.

Within moments it is in view. Taking advantage of my lack of concentration, a firebolt skims past my arm burning away layers of skin as it does. I ignore the impulse to let it go limp, knowing that if I do I'll drop Katniss. 50 metres is all I have left to run. I let my mind wander back to the small race we had. I let myself believe that I am there again, but this time I'm winning.

The lake soothes my feet as I run into it. When we are waist height I drop Katniss into the water which effectively wakes her up. Figures that she would have fallen asleep during that.

"Morning." I pant to her.

I place my arm into the water and feel the coolness soothing the burnt skin. I begin to take my shirt off but Katniss' blush stops me.

"I erm, burnt my arm." I stutter. Instead of taking my shirt of completely I somehow manage to just remove my arm. Placing it back into the water cools it down further. "Did you burn?" I ask her.

"My thigh." her cheeks turn a bright shade of crimson. I walk out of the lake to where I dumped my bag to retrieve a small knife. "Cut the fabric away around it." I give her the knife and see the relief flood across her face. "No, you don't have to take your trousers off." I laugh, "Although I wouldn't complain." I smirk.

"Shut up Cato." she laughs to me.

I've been seriously burnt before, but I know this is worse. The heat doesn't seem to go away even after bathing it for ages in cold water. Have the Capitol managed to make a fire that is different? Cinna was able to make fake fire that flickered and behaved just as a real fire would, so I suppose anything is possible.

Patches of shiny skin are starting to appear on the angry red burn on my arm.

"Why do you think they've made us come back here?" Katniss asks whilst walking out of the lake. "We've pretty much been sent backwards, we're further away from finding Peeta now." she continues.

I follow her lead and walk out of the lake. "There's probably a tribute close to us." I say.

My wet clothes cling to my body making the temperature feels colder than what it actually is. I reach for my bag and search for the spare clothes, finding what I need I throw a set for Katniss in her direction.

"Thanks." she mumbles as I remove my wet shirt and put the dry one on.

"I can turn around if you'd like?" I mutter, seeing her obvious discomfort.

"If you wouldn't mind." she mumbles. I turn around and change my pants for the dry pair. Only when I hear her cough do I turn back around.

The fire could have only lasted an hour at the most therefore we still have the whole day ahead of us. I turn my head to the left briefly, where the lake seems to run into a small stream. Surely Peeta would stay close to a water source. Even he's not that stupid.

"Are you ok to walk or is it serious?" I ask Katniss, referring to the burn on her thigh.

"The fire has took most of the skin off and it's hard to walk." she mutters embarrassed. The Capitol must find this amusing. The Girl On Fire hurt by some fire. "My hands have a lot of welts on them too." she continues.

"Isn't it best to drain them or something." I say. In all honesty I don't know. I never took any notice in the medical side of training. I only ever wanted to be able to fight. I never needed medical assistance anyway. I never got injured. Figures that the information would come in handy now.

"I don't know, I never paid attention to my mother. Healing was always Prim's stronger point." Katniss admits. I remember her saying about her mother being a healer for District 12. Always helping the coal miners when they had accidents. Or trying to help ease the pain of a suffering malnourished child. "Maybe you are supposed to drain them."

Without stopping to think Katniss retrieves her knife from a bag and puts a tiny slit into each of the welts. Clear liquid oozes out of them, and from the relief plastered over her face draining them is what you're supposed to do.

I begin to repack my belongings into the bag and sling it over my shoulder. "We should really be setting off again." I say to her, "Even if we're slow because you're crippled." I smirk.

A scowl crawls over her face, "Very funny." she says as she also packs her bag and walks towards me- slower than usual. A comfortable silence comes over us as we walk together, neither one of us feeling the need to fill it with pointless chit chat. The trees and ground have changed dramatically since the fire. Trees are completely bare; leaving us out in the open. The ground is black, covered in burnt trees and ash.

**Katiss POV  
**

For the first time, I feel unsafe. The forrest has always been the place in which I can be let myself be free.

Cato strides ahead, naturally fitting in to a leadership role. I don't bother questioning the direction and route he takes us on. "Cato knows best." I think sarcastically.

"We'll make camp soon." Cato says. I nod my confirmation. The silence between us is becoming uncomfortable. Neither one of us has spoken to the other for 3 hours. However, I refuse to be the one to break it.

"Stop." Cato says. Although his voice came out as barely a whisper, I heard him as if he was shouting. I watch helplessly as he looks down at his own feet. Only when my eyes follow his do I see them. Tracks.

There are two kinds of tributes. Ones that do everything in their power to stay alive. They sleep in trees, don't light fires in the night, eat as little food and drink as little water as what they can manage. Ones that want to at least be considered as a could be victor. The other type are the complete opposite. They make noise, light fires at night, leave tracks my not thinking of walking or running on the leaves. Normally they're to young to really know what they're doing. Too young to be of any real threat.

"They went north." he says. We quicken the pace, I can see that Cato wants to start jogging but doesn't because of my thigh. Minutes pass with no other sign. Cato begins to slow down, returning to a slower walk, when something up ahead catches both of our attentions.

Thumps and shouting is all you can hear. I thought everyone knew that you're supposed to be quiet during the Games. Isn't the idea not to be found? Without agreeing we both break into a run towards the noise.

All of a sudden I find it difficult to breathe, no air is able to fill my lungs. I am incapable of telling myself to breathe. The only time I can ever remember feeling like this is when I fell out of the tree when I was little. I was completely winded and helpless.

Straight in front of me, not even two metres away, Marvel and Peeta were rolling around fighting for dominance. Fighting for their lives. I watch helplessly as each of them lands blows with their fists. Each of them has blood flowing from a recent wound. Fifty metres away I see a spear sticking up from the ground. From the lack of evidence of an injury on Peeta, Marvel had missed his target.

I continue to watch as Peeta begins to become weak. I don't know how long they've been fighting together, but it's taken it's toll on him. He doesn't have the stamina that myself or Cato does. He's never had to run through the woods all day for food. Marvel manages to get Peeta into a deadly headlock. Defeat spreads over Peeta's face almost instantly. He knows as well as I do, this is it.

I feel my hands move towards my back and retrieve something. An arrow. Without stopping to consider the consequences I load my bow and take aim at him. With a deep breath I pull back the bowstring and release the arrow, sending it flying towards its mark. Only when it hits do I realise that the intended victim stands uninjured. It is Peeta that stands limply in a headlock with an arrow sticking out of his eye.

* * *

**Thank you so much for the views and reviews, they chear me up so much when I get to see them. Some of you might be surprised in the way this turned out, but trust me. It needed to happen at some point. What would like to happen now then? If there's good surgestions then I may have to incorporate them in some how:-) love you al **


	13. Chapter 13: Kiss and Tell

**Sorry I haven't updated, truth be told I'm running out of inspiration at the moment, I don't even know if any of you still bother to read it!:L but anyway, I've managed to get this chapter out. **

* * *

Chapter 13: Kiss and Tell

Every Sunday Gale and I used to run back to the fence, it became an unspoken tradition for us. The only time we was ever loud in the woods was when we ran. We didn't have a care in the world. Our feet would land on twigs and decaying leaves; leaving a snap and a crunch wherever we went. From time to time one of us would trip and the sound of the others laugh would fill the area.

I would give anything for the woods I was running through now to be those woods. For the reason I was running to just be for pure fun. For the person I was running away from to not be dead.

I force myself to keep running, the pain in my thigh inevitably makes me slower. But I have to continue. Stopping now means talking. The woods are an almost blur besides me, I feel as if I am in one of those old movies they're always showing at school.

I can hear panting behind me, I turn my head for a second to see who my follower is. "Of course it would be him" I mutter sarcastically to myself.

I wonder what District 12 makes of all this. Would they realise that the arrow wasn't meant for Peeta? No, now I'm just a cold-blooded killer to them. A true career.

Why did they have to rebel 75 years ago? I wouldn't be in this mess if they did. I wouldn't have had to take Prim's place.

It seems as though I have run for hours apon end. In reality, ten minutes at the most. Cato has run 2 meters behind me for a while now. Why? He could easily catch up.

I run into a small clearing. Trees surround it: creating an oval shape. I fling my bow to the ground along with the sheath of arrows and bag. Slowly I let my knees give way and I collapse to the ground.

I am not the kind of person that cries. I can only ever remember crying for five minutes when father died. Seeing the sadness on Prim's face and the emptiness in Mothers eyes forced me to stay strong. The only other time I can think of is moments before Peeta threw me the bread. Laying on the floor, freezing and starving, I let myself release the built up emotions inside of me. My tears were a mixture of anger and hurt. I remember thinking to myself, "How can the Capitol let us go on like this?" realising the answer, and laughing quietly. Tears of relief came when Peeta threw the bread out to me. The last conformation that everything was going to be alright.

If I let myself cry now who's going to see it? Cato? I half expect that he is expecting me to cry. Prim, Mother, Home? Will they figure out that I never meant for it to kill him? Other tributes? They already know I'm a 'threat'. I wouldn't be a career otherwise.

I take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Mother is always telling me to do that when I'm upset.

"Katniss." Cato's voice calls out to me softly. I look up and see him standing straight in front of me with his hand extended.

Without questioning it, I let him pull me up and gently pull me into a comforting embrace. "I was meant to shoot Marvel." I say, his chest muffles my voice.

"I know, I know." he says softly whilst resting his chin on the top of my head and stoking my hair. "I was surprised you didn't kill him afterwards though." he says.

"I'll get him tomorrow." I say. His chest vibrates on my cheek from his laughter.

"Thought as much." he smirks.

I lean my head away from his chest and look up at him. His eyes fix on mine and I can feel my lips spreading into a small smile. "You're not crying." he questions me.

"I'm good at that." I mutter. His arms relax a little and slip to rest around my waist. Standing up on my tip toes, I pull him in for a soft kiss.

I feel Cato pull at my waist and my body moulds into his. His tongue traces along my bottom lip and I open my mouth to grant him access. I smile against his lips as our tongues fight for dominance and he let's out a small laugh. Only when I run out of breath do I pull away from him, placing a quick kiss on his lips.

"How's your thigh?" Cato asks me.

"It's fine." I say quickly, not wanting him to know how much it really hurt.

"Let me look at it." he says, a concerning look spreading across his face.

"Really, I said it's fine." I say again, I turn to walk away but he reaches out and catches my wrist: forcing me to look back at him.

"I said let me look at it." he replies sternly.

I sigh and dramatically put my leg forward. Cato crouches down so that his face is level with the burn. He reaches out to move some of the trousers but his hand catches on some of the burnt flesh.

"Sorry." he says when I let out a hiss. He stands up and walks over to his backpack. I watch as he rummages around in it until he pull out one of his knifes. He must catch the worried look that comes across my face as he lets out a little laugh.

Cato cuts out a strip of his shirt with the knife and pours some water from the flask on it.

"I'm not a healer or anything, but keeping it cold is supposed to help isn't it?" he say, unsurely.

"Mother always tells me to wrap my burn in a bit of the scrap meat of one of my kills at home." I laugh, "Makes sense now."

He bends down again and carefully wraps the cloth around my thigh. He places a small kiss on the skin above it before standing up.

"Who would have thought the cocky career could be so caring?" I smirk to him.

"Who would have thought that two tributes could care for one another?" he smirks back.

"Who said I care for you?" I laugh.

Cato steps forward so that his face is only millimetres away from my own. "Don't even bother to deny it Katniss." he whispers.

"Well you don't care about me so I might as well deny it." I say.

"That's not true." he says, his eyebrows cross in confusion.

"Would I have come back for you in the fire if I didn't care?" he asks.

"You could have felt guilty." I mutter.

"Would I have bothered to even ask you to join my alliance if I didn't care about you?" he asks again.

"You saw that I can shoot, you probably only asked me so I didn't kill you straight away." I snap.

"Why won't you just accept that I care about you? Why do you always have to come up with an answer?" he sighs.

"Because I can't believe it. You've been waiting for the opportunity to win the Games from when you first found out about them. Ever since you were a little boy it's been drilled in your head that you must do anything to win. Surely that includes messing with my head not only to make me vulnerable but to gain some more sponsors?" I take a deep breath.

"Start to believe it, because it's the truth." he says, the agitation obvious in his voice. "Katniss, Clove has been the closet to family I've ever had. Ever since I was 9 all I've ever learnt about was killing. It's not in my nature to be able to care for anything. But somehow I care about you. Do you really think I would have followed you today if I didn't care?" he says softly.

I feel the tears building up in my eyes but I force myself not to cry. Instead of saying anything I walk over to Cato and wrap my arms around him.

"Can we stay here for the night?" I ask him.

He looks down at me and raises an eyebrow. "It's a bit out in the open isn't it?" he asks whilst looking around.

"Who's seriously going to attack us?" I laugh at him. "Besides, you wake up at the sound of a fly."

"Light a fire then fire girl." the look of annoyed acceptance spread across his face- along with his signature smirk.

Quickly I light a fire and I sit down beside it. Cato walks over to where his sword is and then sits down opposite me.

I flinch at the noise his sword makes every time he drags the rock across the edge of the blade. The sound penetrates through my skin and makes me shiver. He must see my reaction as a small smirk creeps over his face as he continues to drag it along. The rock causes ugly lumps and bumps to appear along the edge. I watch as Cato holds his sword into the fire. It still amazes me how quickly the metal turns from a shiny silver to a orange red. The lumps begin to smooth out just as he takes it out of the flame. He stands up and places it a meter away from us. The small sizzling sound fills my ears when he places it down on the cold leaves.

The sun has begun to set and the temperature begins to drop. The low chimes that ring out make my head look up. I watch as a large parachute drops and lands at my feet. The large '12' written across indicates the gift is for me. I untie the strings that attach the chute and retrieve the small note that has come along with it.

**Apply generously, keep warm and stay alive- H**

Returning my focus back to the sponsor I see now that Haymitch had sent in another sleeping bag. Was sharing getting with Cato getting to much for him? Wrapped up inside I find a small canister full of a cloudy clear cream. I dip my fingers into the pot and immediately feel a cooling sensation run through them. I untie the make shift bandage Cato made me and quickly dip my fingers back into the cream and gather a small amount. I dap it onto the burn through the hole in my trousers Cato had made. I let out a sigh of relief as the cream begins to send a cooling sensation through them.

"Put this on your arm." I say and throw the canister to Cato just as he sits down beside me. He does as I say and let's out a small sigh of relief.

"You got a sleeping bag then." he laughs.

"Well I don't want to sleep with you again, last time things got hot." I laugh back.

Quickly I grab the sleeping bag and slide myself into it. I rest my elbows on the ground and look up at Cato. His eyes are heavy with fatigue and his blonde hair is full of soot from the smoke.

"I'll do the first watch if you'd like." I say. I feel as tired as Cato looks, however he always offers to watch when I'm tired- might as well return the favour.

"You don't have to, I'm fine." he says, not looking up.

"Listen I offered didn't I? If I didn't want to I would have just gone to sleep and let you stay up." I snap.

Cato stands up and walks around the fire. I watch silently as he grabs his sleeping bag and unrolls it next to where I am.

"Wake me up later." he says before laying down and closing his eyes.

* * *

**HEEEEEY! I know I know, took me ages! But I promise (again) that I will update more. I have a plan set out now so I know roughly what's going to happen which makes writing soooo much easier. I want tothank you for the views and reviews (keep them coming) ok so my space barhas decided to not work occasionally, feel sorry for me:( I love you all, and if I could get 100+ reviews that would be awesome!**


	14. Chapter 14: An Eye For An Eye

**HEEEEEY! I don't know why, but I like this chapter. you might not, but I do;) have fun reading, and are you all impressed? I updated in less than a week (brownie points please!)**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Eye For An Eye**

I watched as my mother sat huddled up in the chair. Only ever-moving when a limb becomes numb. Her eyes fixed on some point in the distance. Prim is crouched down in front of her, screaming at her to listen. Pleading for her to come back. She looks terrified.

"You promised her mother. You promised you wouldn't leave again." I hear Prim cry out to her.

I want nothing more than to reach out to Prim, to rock her back and forth so that she knows everything's going to be alright. But no matter how hard I try, I am unable to get to her.

I begin to scream as Prim is torn away from me. I open my eyes slowly, letting the adjust to the bright light. Cato is laying beside me, head resting on his forearm and his other free hand stroking my hair. I rub my eyes in a n attempt to force the tired look out of them.

"You were having a bad dream." he says, still stroking my hair.

"I seem to be getting a lot of those." I mutter.

Cato sits up and leans back on his elbows. "We need to be going, Clove will have seen Peeta's portrait and be heading back to the cornucopia by now." It is orders like this that remind me where I am. What I am doing here.

Without getting up properly I reach over to my backpack and pull out a piece of beef jerky. My stomach growls at the first bite. _Must have gotten so used to Capitol food nothing else is good enough_, I think.

"Look at your arm." I say in astonishment. The burnt flesh has disappeared, replacing it a fresh pink layer of skin. Without thinking I rub my finger across it, a small hiss escapes his lips. _It must still be tender_, I think.

Quickly I jump out of my sleeping bag and look down at my thigh. A smile appears on my face at the realisation that my burn, also, has a fresh layer of skin over it.

It annoys me at how advanced their medicine is, a few hours is all it takes to heal a major burn. Mother fights for days to save people burnt in the mines, herbal remedies and rest is all she can offer them. Most of them die from the pain. Why wont they allow the Districts to have access to this life saving medicine? Of course, I already know the answer.

"The cornucopia isn't far from here, about half a days walk. You can hunt on the way." Cato says. He stands up and begins to re pack his bag with his sleeping bag. Without talking, I do the same.

Finally when we're ready, I pick up my bow and sling the sheath of arrows across my shoulder.

The woods begin to look familiar. I wouldn't be able to walk through them and confidently know the way like Cato seems to. My eyes scan the floor for tracks and the trees for any birds sitting in the high branches. The sound of a beautiful song fills my ears. My eyes dart around but there is not sign of the bird that sings it. I reach down and pick up a small rock, easy to throw a long distance.

"Throw this into the distance in a minute." I whisper to Cato, giving him the rock. He looks confused, but takes the rock without saying anything.

Reaching behind me I take a single arrow from my sheath and load it into the bow. Cato looks back at me, silently asking whether to throw. I nod my assent and take aim into the distance. As soon as the rock hits the floor, three birds fly into the sky startled. I let the arrow fly though the air and one of them falls to the ground.

"Nice shooting." Cato smirks, "Couldn't have done it without me though." he winks.

I let out a small laugh, "Lets just get it before someone, or something, else does." I say.

We walk together to retrieve the bird. "How far to the cornucopia?" I ask.

"Two hour walk." he replies.

I take the arrow out of the bird's eye and clean it using the water from Cato's bottle. I reach up and take the small knife Cato keeps in his belt and begin to skin and clean the bird.

"Anything else you'd like to borrow?" he asks jokingly.

"Well it's not like you need the water, we have my bottle too." I flash him a toothy grin.

"And what if we both accidentally break our legs meaning we can't get to the cornucopia and run out of water?" he asks mockingly, poking me in the ribs playfully.

"We'll get some from our many sponsors." I say seriously, "We may even get tea and coffee." I say, quoting him from a few days before.

"Are we eating this now?" he asks me.

"If you'd like." I say. I stand up and begin to collect pieces of wood to make a fire.

Once I've arranged the wood, Cato lights the wood with a match.

"Do I have to eat this?" Cato asks when I've cooked the bird.

"It's this or go hungry." I laugh at him.

Without answering Cato reaches out at breaks off a leg. Hesitantly he takes a bite. "It's not that bad." he reluctantly replies.

He goes to take another bite but is distracted by a silver parachute falling into his lap. I watch as he opens it and let's out a low laugh.

"Tea or coffee?" he says, lifting up two flasks.

"I've never had either." I say quietly. Mother was always complaining about how she misses drinking a coffee in the morning.

"Well I suggest you try tea." he laughs at me.

He passes me a the flask and I hold it close to my mouth. Breathing in the steam produced, a pleasant flowery smell fills my nose. I take a hesitant sip and let the hot liquid fill me up.

"It's not that bad." I laugh at him. The irony of us both trying something new makes me laugh harder.

"I'd better save the coffee for clove, she'll kill me if I don't." he laughs.

The sun has risen fully now, the light it's producing bounces off all the leaves.

"We should be getting back then." I say.

Cato nods in agreement before we both start off in a light jog. A comfortable silence lays over us both and I let him take the lead. At least that way I can't be for blame if we get lost, I laugh to myself.

The woods around me passes in a slight blur. Trees and leaves all blend into one, the scene around me turns into a haze of greens and browns.

I stop running when Cato signals me to slow down. Through the bushes and trees the cornucopia comes into sight. It is noon now, the sun is directly above us in the sky. Light reflects off the metal making it almost impossible to see.

"Cato, are they there?" I whisper.

"Can you not see them? They're sat in the mouth." he whispers back to me.

I walk towards Cato and look in the direct line of sight he is. Somehow the shadow from the inside makes it easier to see.

Clove is sat aimlessly throwing knives into the ground. Glimmer is sat, laying may be a better description, over Marvel.

Marvel.

"Wait here." I say to Cato as he almost steps out of the bushes.

"Why?" he looks at me confused.

I don't answer, instead I reach behind and take an arrow from the sheath and string it in my bow. I pull back the bowstring and use my mouth as an anchor to rest my fingers. Before Cato even realises what I am doing, I release the arrow and let it fly into Marvels neck. An ear-splitting scream leaves Glimmers lips. All Marvel does is take the arrow out before he drowns in his own blood.

I turn to look at Cato, "Nice shot." he smirks to me just as the cannon sounds. "We either go over there now or leave. Decide now." he says seriously.

"Lets go over there, Clove wants her coffee." I wink to him before stepping through the bushes.

Clove turns and throws a knife in my direction. All I can do to defend myself is duck, hoping that Cato isn't immediately behind me. A low thud sounds when the knife sticks into the bark of a tree behind me.

"Don't try to kill us Clove." I hear Cato laugh to her.

We continue to walk towards the cornucopia together. Realisation comes across Clove's face as she recognises who we are.

Both Cato and I stop as Glimmer and Clove run towards us. Clove stops but Glimmer continues. I let out a small sigh, realising what she intends to do. Avenge. Just like I just have. I brace myself for a hit, but since she weighs nearly double me in muscle when she hits we both fall backwards. The impact with the hard-packed earth knocks the wind out of me. My backpack does little to soften the blow. Fortunately my quiver has caught in the crook of my elbow, saving both itself and my shoulder. Reflectively I let go of the bow, leaving it laying on the ground. Glimmer pins my shoulders to the ground with her knees.

"You killed him." she spits into my ear.

"An eye for an eye." I retort to her.

Her eyes glare down at me, anger shakes through her body. "Tooth for a tooth." she whispers, pulling her left hand back and her hand forming a fist. _Nows my chance_, I think. With the strongest shove I can manage, I roll hard onto my right shoulder. Glimmer topples off me, her balance not being able to be recovered.

Quickly I stand up at the same time she does. Where we have fallen is surrounded by thin trunked trees. Glimmer runs at me again but this time I am able to shove into her, sending her flying into the trunk of the closest tree.

Everything happens it what seems like slow motion. A low buzzing noise, nearly unable to be heard, begins to grow louder. Branches snap as something begins to fall through their clutches. A second before it hits the ground I realise what I need to do. Run.

The tree I threw Glimmer into was home to a tracker jacker nest. One of the Capitol muttations. Killer wasps spawned in labs and strategically placed, like land mines, around districts during the war. They're larger than normal wasps, they have solid gold bodies and stings that raises the lump the size of a plum on contact. Most people can't tolerate more than a few stings. Some die at once. If you're lucky, or not, the hallucinations brought on by the venom have been known to drive people to madness. These wasps track down anyone that disturbs their nests.

The second head start I have on the wasps is almost lost when I barge into Cato. But knowing why I am running he does the same.

"The lake." I hear him shout.

I don't know why going to the lake will help, I've never been in the situation where I need to get away from them. Whenever gale and I come across a nest in the woods, we immediately turn and go the opposite direction.

I feel a stabbing pain shoot through my knee, a second sting on my arm, a third on my neck, and their venom almost immediately makes me woozy. I follow three Cato's into the cool water of the lake.

"Did they get you." asks Cato. I can't do anything but nod.

Thankfully only a few tracker jackers identified me as a threat when the nest crashed down on Glimmer. I watch hard, as Cato submerges himself in the water and do the same. After about five minutes, I drag myself onto some rocks. Somewhere in the back of my mind I hear my mother shouting at me to remove the stingers. Shakenly I do as she says, a foul-smelling green liquid oozes from the places where I've pulled out the stingers.

People have no exaggerated the effect the venom has on the body. The stabbing pain refuses to leave, the green liquid still oozes out of each lump. Actually, the lumps are not the size of plums. They're more like the size of oranges.

A cannon sounds, but as it echoes in my ear I begin to panic as I hear two.

"Cato." I cry.

I turn to where he was last stood, instead of seeing him standing there still I see him laying on the rocks beside me. Blood drips from his eye, like he is crying. Is this real? Or have the hallucinations begun? I squeeze my eyes tight. As if trying to force the image out of my brain.

The world begins to bend in alarming angles. A bird flies by the size of a balloon before bursting into a rain of shattered stars. Trees around the edge of the lake transform into blood, dripping into the lake. Slowly the blood diffuses into the water and turns it into a sickening red colour. Ants begin to crawl out of the holes in the lumps in which the stingers used to be. They're climbing up my arms, up my neck. Disorientated, I try to stop the ants but I can't. They bore into my eyes and I black out.

* * *

**well thank you for reading. please leave a review, send me a PM, whatever. JUST PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS. if you review, you get 10,000,000 Tara points x **


	15. Chapter 15: Up In Smoke

**WELL HEEEEEEEEEEY! yeah, i'm sorry that this has taken a little longer than the other two, but i've had work experience at a primary school, and its unimaginable how tired you get! **

**All-Smiles1234 this ones for you! **

**anyway, on with the story..**

* * *

Chapter 15: Up In Smoke

I slip in and out of consciousness. Nightmares fill my head. Dreams of Prim, Gale and even Peeta dying in various horrific ways. I watch as Mother stares into space as her two children begin to starve. The last days of my father.

Finally when I come to my senses, I lie still for five minutes. Only when no nightmares come do I decide the poison must have left my body. My body is stiff from staying in the same place for so long. Simply stretching out my legs requires an enormous amount of effort.

Slowly I manage to sit up. I turn my head to the left and see Cato. He is still unconscious, laying peacefully. Only I know that he won't be peaceful. Somehow the tracker jacker venom will be forcing his brain to relay every fear he's ever had. Careful not to wake him, I reach over and stroke the area of skin under his eyes. No blood comes off his skin and I let out a small sigh.

My eyes linger over Cato and I see Clove laying beside him. In all the chaos I'd forgotten to even think about her.

How long have we been out? The stiffness in my joints suggests that at least a day has passed. If so why hasn't anyone attacked us? Surely 3 careers out cold would be the easiest kill. Then I remember, there is only 4 tributes left besides us. Rue is a smart girl, she would know not to risk coming to the lake. Not with us using this as our water source. I haven't seen Thresh since the bloodbath. I have a funny feeling he's lurking in the area behind the cornucopia. Come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone since the bloodbath. Not unless they're about to die. But then out here, it's not exactly a social event.

A low grumble shakes me from my thoughts. Cato's eye flutter open quickly, if I hadn't expected it, it would have scared me, and he sits up on his elbows.

"How long have we been out," he asks, his throat is dry from dehydration.

"A day at least." I say. Now that he's say up I am able to see the two lumps on his neck. "You haven't taken the stingers out." I ask.

"Are you meant to?" he laughs. I watch as he rips both stingers out the lumps and the foul-smelling green liquid oozes out. Just as it did with mine.

"Should we get them out of Clove's?" I ask Cato. Maybe this is why I was first to wake; because I took the stingers out.

"Let her wake up and do it. She might stab us." he says.

"Stab who?" Clove's voice is croaky.

"Us. If we took the stingers out." Cato tells her.

The dryness of their voice reminds me of our dehydration. Fortunately, we didn't have to go far for water. I take the backpack off my shoulders along with my quiver. I reach to the side to place them with my bow.

"My bow." I say out loud. I left it on the floor when Glimmer attacked me.

Immediately I am up on my feet, replacing the quiver and running back to the cornucopia. Please still be there, I think. I am nothing in these Games without it. I cannot feed myself, defend myself. Nothing.

I feel a tightening knot form in my stomach when I get to the tree the nest came from. At the bottom the smashed pieces still remain. Pushing myself to continue, I walk out of the bushes and see my bow. The cornucopia looks different now. All the supplies are set up a small distance away from it. Around the edge of the metal plates, the ones we all rose up on, the earth has been dug up and re patted down. I load my bow, knowing that someone has been here.

A boy comes out of the mouth holding a large metal cylinder. I aim my arrow but before I release he speaks out, "I wouldn't. I'm holding a mine." he says timidly.

A mine? Never in the history of the Hunger Games has the Gamemakers included a mine in the supplies. It doesn't create a personal, intimate kill which is what the Capitol desires. How has he got it?

I lower my bow and look around again. _Of_ _course_. Somehow he has managed to activate the land mines that surround the metal plates before the start. It all makes sense now, he's the boy from District 3. They make explosives in their factories. They make other stuff as well, but knowing how to make explosives has enabled this boy to use them as a weapon.

I hear Cato and Clove arriving behind me. The tell-tale sign of Cato drawing his sword when he sees the boy.

"We have enough allies Katniss." he sighs to me.

I hold out my arm and place it on his chest when he starts to walk forwards: holding him back.

"He's managed to make the mines live again." I say.

Confusion crosses over Cato and Clove's faces. "What do you mean." asks Clove.

"He's managed to be able to protect the supplies with mines, meaning I'm not walking out on the clearing until I know where the mines are. That also means we either take him as an ally or go without all of that." I say, gesturing towards the supplies spread out in front of the cornucopia and the few piled up.

"District 3." says Cato. "How many mines have you set up?" he asks.

"And why should I tell you." the boy replies.

"Because you will live if you do." Clove cuts in. "One bow and throwing knives. You have no chance of escaping."

I don't know what I'd do if I was in the boy's position. Maybe now, because he was in the last 7, I would be thinking that I actually have a chance. I would do anything to get home, even if that meant teaming up with the deadliest group.

"They're all around the supplies, set up with only one safe route." the boy says. "I'm the only one who knows the route."

"Cato, we might as well. He can tell us the safe route to the supplies and then we can kill him after." Clove whispers to Cato.

"We should let him live for a day after he's told us. It's only fair." I say.

Clove laughs at me, "Such a polite girl aren't you Katniss." she laughs again.

"Well then 3. Welcome to the club." Cato says with a sadistic grin.

We all walk slowly towards the cornucopia, slowing even more once we've past the metal plates that brought us into this hell. I fight the urge I have to run back to the woods, where I know I am safe. The boy walks towards the pyramid and places the mine into a pre-dug hole, before covering it carefully with earth.

An uncomfortable silence settles on us all. Neither one of us knowing what to say. Ten minutes pass before Cato finds something to say.

"What's the route then 3?" he utters, gesturing with his hands towards the supplies.

The boy mutters something that sounds like, "I'll show you" and begins to approach the supplies with little hops, sometimes landing on one foot, taking a few steps before hopping again. Once he gets to the pyramid, he turns and mimics the route again.

"Are you sure we can't just kill him now?" Clove whispers to Cato.

A small laugh escapes his lips, "No, Katniss wants him to survive the night." He looks over his shoulder and smirks to me.

It's times like these that I wish I could shoot the smirk off his face.

The boy rejoins us and we all collapse onto the floor. Although we don't all say it, it's obvious we're all exhausted. It's only now that I realise Cato must be even more tired than I am. He's always been the one to carry extra weight, take longer watches. Is this all to help me?

I don't know how long we've all sat here. An hour maybe? The sun is high in the sky, beating down with a tropical heat. Sweat pours off our foreheads and I can hear myself breathing heavily.

"Over there." Cato shouts out. Even though he is right next to me, I find it hard to hear him.

I look in the direction that he's pointing, thick smoke is visible from the tops of the tree line. Cato and Clove have already stood up and gathered their weapons.

I reach out to pick up my bow, but the heat from the metal being out in the sun burns my hands. I let out a small hiss and screw my eyebrows together.

"Drink this and put these on." Clove says to me, chucking a bottle of water and a pair of thin mesh gloves at my feet. I hurriedly put the gloves on and gulp down half the water.

By the time I join them both, they're already in a heated argument about whether 3 comes with us.

"He's coming. We need him in the woods, and his job is done here anyway. No one can touch the supplies." says Cato.

"We don't even know if he's any good." Clove says.

"What's the worst that could happen?" says Cato. He thrusts a spear into the hands of the boy. "Come on slow coach." he says towards me.

I make no attempt of speeding up and follow them into the woods. Who would be so stupid to set up a fire at this point of the games? The three that are left are too clever to forget that smoke can be visible. I take a quick look up into the sky, the smoke is bright white against the blue sky.

The only time I can remember seeing white smoke on a fire is when Gale and I made a signal fire for each other. We used green wood because we knew the smoke would be white and noticeable. Why would someone want to draw us in towards them? 3 against one? That hardly seems the motive.

"They're drawing us away." I whisper.

"What?" Cato turns round, noticing that I've stopped walking.

"They're drawing us away from the cornucopia. They must know about the trap." I tell him.

"But how? We're the only ones who know about it." Clove says.

The next minute happens so quickly. It's like I'm watching it on fast forward.

Cato turns to the boy, "You!" he yells.

Clove sends a knife into the boys skull, but at the same time Cato yells out in pain. Screaming words that shouldn't be repeated.

Sticking out the top of Cato's thigh is the spear.

"No! You idiot, why didn't you move." I fling myself onto him, punching his chest.

"Katniss that isn't going to help." Clove laughs to me, pulling me off him.

"Get me to the lake." he groans at us both.

"Why does everything revolve around the lake." I grumble underneath my breath.

"Sorry to be predictable." Cato grunts, half laughing.

"How far is the lake." I ask. We are in an area of the woods that I didn't recognise.

"About twenty minute walk." Clove says.

"How do you know all this?" I roll my eyes to her, the answer to my question obvious now.

"I trained for this." we say together, in exact harmony.

A small smile appears on Cato's lips, but that is soon wiped away when we both take one side of him and begin our journey to the lake.

The trip isn't reasonably long, but the cries of pain that come from Cato make it seem longer.

"Thought you were meant to be trained for this." I moan to him.

"You try having a spear thrown in your thigh, see if you can cope any better." he grimaces to me.

Both Clove and I continue to walk towards the lake, setting Cato down so that he lays at the edge of the water.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Clove says.

I watch for a moment as she digs around in her bag for a bottle of water. She grabs Cato's bag off his back and gets his to. Clove leans one of the bottles up against a rock, so that it is always filling whilst she uses the other. Carefully she pours the cool water over Cato's thigh. The bright crimson diffuses into the water.

Cato's face screws up when she goes to move his trousers. Even in the short amount of time, some of the blood has dried, leaving his trousers stuck to the open wound.

It's only now that I realise I haven't helped. I've been stood watching, waiting for it to all be better.

I lean down and take the knife out of his belt, using it to cut his trousers off. Naked bodies aren't a big deal in the arena, right? And anyway, it's not like he's completely naked.

Only now that I am close, I can see just how damaging the wound is.

The spear has cut his thigh right down to the bone, leaving a gaping hole oozing out blood. What am I supposed to do with this? Conversations with my mother come flooding back.

"Tie it off Katniss. Limit the amount of blood so that he doesn't lose any more." her voice tells me.

"Theres a first aid kit in your bag Katniss." Cato says, as if he can read my mind.

Quickly, I search through my bag and retrieve it. Fever pills, plasters, medicine to calm stomachs and bandages. Basic stuff.

I take the bandage and wrap it around his thigh tightly.

"Should help stop the bleeding." I say sheepishly. Prim was always a better healer than me. She'd be much more useful.

I reach up and place a soft kiss on his lips, as if I can magically take the pain away.

"I'm going to be fine." Cato smiles to me.

"Yeah, tough as old boots aren't you Cato." Clove calls out in a fit of laughter.

The sun has begun to set and the light is beginning to disappear.

"We should get some rest. I'll wake you for your watch soon Katniss." Clove says, before taking out a sleeping bag and climbing into it.

"Can you help me move Cato away from the water edge first?" I ask, knowing the is no way I'd be able to do it alone.

Clove sighs, gets out her sleeping bad and walks over to Cato.

"Shall we just roll him?" she asks.

I nod in agreement and crouch down beside him. We can only manage one full roll before he cries out in pain, forcing us to stop.

"He'll be alright here, he's away from the edge." Clove says, before going back to her sleeping bag and getting in it.

Having remembered that we only brought two with us; I grab my one out my bag and somehow manage to get Cato into it. I crawl in beside him and he snakes his arm around my waist.

"I feel like an invalid." he whispers into my hair.

"I find it funny how the cocky one got hurt." I mutter.

"So me being hurt is funny is it?" he pokes me in my rib.

"Not funny, ironic." I correct myself.

He says something else but is drowned out by the sounds of trumpets.

All of us sit up straight in anticipation.

The only communication to the tributes is the nightly death toll. However, occasionally there will be trumpets followed by an announcement. This will usually be a call to a feast.

When food is scarce, Gamemakers will invite the tributes to a banquet, somewhere known to all. It is an inducement to gather and fight. Sometimes there is a feast, but sometimes there's nothing but a loaf of bread for the tributes to fight over.

Claudius Templesmith's voice booms down over us, "Attention tributes, a slight rule change has been made." Claudius Templesmith pauses, knowing that we most probably won't understand what he means. "Under the new rule, two victors may be crowned as long as one is a male and one a female."

The trumpets sound again, then silence.

Two victors? This has never happened before. Why now?

I lay back down and Cato's grip around my waist tightens.

Silently he is sending me a message. Two victors. We can both go home.

A small smile spreads across my face before I let sleep overwhelm me.

* * *

**Well thanks for the reviews! GUESS WHO'S FINALLY GOT OVER 100! I'm sorry that this took a while, this is a kind of filler chapter. I mean yes, what happended to Cato is quite a big thing but I dunno. Felt like a filler to me. Ok I need advice, how would you like me to kill rue? Would you prefer her to have written death or would you like her to just show up in the sky? There's something about rue that makes me scared to kill her:/ please help me haha! **


	16. Chapter 16: Just My Luck

**Hello fine people! Sorry this took longer than expected, but yeah times are hard and all that rubbish ;-) I gibe you chapter 16..**

* * *

Chapter 16: Just My Luck

The gentle shaking of my arm wakes me from my sleep.

Clove is stood, hovering, over my body. The right side of her face is illuminated by a yellow glow; coming from a small fire she must have made during the night.

"Rule change huh." she mumbles, almost as if she's trying to make small talk.

"Yeah, strange isn't it?" I say. Carefully I manage to slide myself out of the sleeping bag without moving Cato.

"You have no idea what you've done do you?" Clove says snidely, shaking her head ever so slightly.

"What are you on about?" I say, her change in tone startles me.

"You may not have wanted to, but that doesn't change the fact that you have. Your romance with him has caused all of this to happen Katniss." she pauses, I imagine to try and collect her thoughts. I don't say anything because it's obvious she hasn't finished.

"Why do you think they have a winner?" she asks. "Why not just kill 24 children at random?"

I look at her with a puzzled expression.

"Hope." she answers her own question.

"Hope?"

"Think about it, we sit at home hoping and wanting our friends and family to return. We hope they either come back or die a relatively painless death. We stand and secretly hope its not us. Hope is the only thing stronger than fear."

"I don't understand how this has anything to do with the rule change." I say.

"Reverse it. You've scared them, you're creating havoc in the Capitol I bet you. No one wants their precious lovers to be separated. So they give them all hope." Clove stands up, slides into her sleeping bag and leaves me to go over what she said.

I wonder secretly whether they would have showed her speech to Panem. Surely not? Anything that has any hint of rebellion must be deleted and destroyed.

Clove must feel betrayed. Although Cato hasn't said a word since the announcement, it was obvious. He didn't stop to think about Clove when he heard.

Would I have thought about Peeta? I feel a rush of nausea go through me, and I fight the urge to throw up.

Is the Capitol really in chaos? What Clove said make sense. Surely there must have been another reason for this change.

I stand up and pick up my bow. Hunting is the only distraction I have from thinking.

The woods are still dark, but it doesn't bother me. Just being in the woods, alone, helps me to forget everything. The silence somehow calms me down. Only now and again does the call of a mockingjay break the noiseless atmosphere.

I slump down the trunk of the nearest tree. I can still see the faint glow of a fire, and the mound of material that is Cato, so I know I haven't gone far.

I watch motionless as the world around me becomes lighter. Single streams of sunlight burst through gaps in the trees.

**Cato POV**

The stickiness of fresh blood feels weird against my skin. Never have I been cut before. Not badly like this. Without opening my eyes I run my hand over the scars on my left arm. The contrast between the smoothness of my skin and the bumps the scars have left feels soothing.

Slowly I open my eyes, blinking a few times to allow them to adjust to the bright morning light.

"Katniss?" I say quietly when I realise she's not laying next to me.

I get out the sleeping bag carefully and look around.

A sharp stabbing pain sears its way through my upper thigh, I take a moment to customise myself with the pain. At the base of a tree, fifty or so metres away, Katniss is sat. Looking off in the opposite direction, twiddling strands of hair round her fingers.

It takes longer than I expected to reach her, but when I do I let out a small cough so that I don't startle her.

"What are you doing." I laugh, as I manage to slowly slide down the tree and sit next to her.

"Stopping myself from thinking." she replies emotionless.

"It doesn't look like you're doing a good job." I say, poking her in the rib.

"How's your leg," she says, changing the subject.

"It's fine." I say quickly, not wanting her to worry about something that doent concern her.

"Let me see." she says. She turns around and reaches out to where she cut the fabric away. I don't stop her from moving the material away and seeing the bloody bandage wrapped around my thigh.

"You need to change it." she says.

"Cant you do that?" I question, "I've never really been good at bandages." I laugh.

Without talking she stands up and gestures me to follow her. Standing up takes more energy than even I expected. The sharp stabbing pain returns and I have to force my face to not show the discomfort I am in. I follow her slowly, one step at a time, everything about the pain tells me to stop.

A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead and involuntarily I collapse down to the ground as soon as I stop thinking about walking. My head feels dizzy, almost like I've been drinking as much liquor as her mentor does.

Katniss rushes over to me, setting down the flimsy first aid bag beside her.

"What aren't you telling me?" her eyebrows crease together and she looks down at me with narrow eyes.

Only now do I notice the temperature of my body. My breath comes out in hot shallow pants. A layer of glistening sweat covers my body.

"Being a drama queen are we Cato?" Clove laughs. She's rolled over in her sleeping bag, facing us like it's a show.

"Clove shut up." Katniss snaps. She places her hand on my forehead and quickly whips it off.

"You're hot." she says confused.

"Everyone knows that." I smirk sarcastically.

"No, you're abnormally hot." she reaches forward to my leg and hurriedly removes the bandage.

Tiny thin purple lines run a maze around the open wound, and the area has doubled in size. The smell of pus makes us both gag. How is this possible? I think. I've only been injured a day.

"I don't understand." I say.

**Katniss POV**

I fight the urge to get up and run. Everything about this makes me want to throw up. The smell of the pus, the sight of the swollen thigh.

How am I supposed to clean this? Nothing in the first aid bag will help draw all the pus out. No doubt the cost for the medicine needed to treat this has gone up since the start of the games, tripled now that someone actually needs it. Is it even worth a shot? I wonder. Would Haymitch even think of joining up with Cato's mentor to get him the medicine? Especially now that working together can bring us both home. Or maybe Haymitch is too drunk to care. I banish the thought from my head. No I do not believe that Haymitch is drunk. For some strange reason I think he's trying to tell me something. Does he remember that my mother is a healer?

What would mother do?

The amount of times I've been out foraging for different herbs and plants for one of their concoctions. Ironic that Prim would be better at this point than me.

One time, a miner came to us for help because he'd cut his arm down in the mines. All the coal dust had gotten into the fresh wound, making it infected. mother told me to go to the woods and collect as much clay soil as I could. I watched in amazement as she made a thick paste out of the clay soil and spread it onto his cut. Within minutes the swelling had gone down, and he was feeling better.

"Clay." I mutter out loud.

"What?" both Cato and Clove ask in unison.

"Mother did it ages ago, we need clay to draw out the toxins of that." I say pointing at his wound.

"The clay will take out the poisoning, or at least slow it down, and I need to find the moss we use back home to heal cuts." I mutter, it's like I'm making myself a to-do list.

"Describe the moss, I'll go get it." Clove says.

"It might not even be here." I say.

"It's worth a shot Katniss." Cato says, running his fingers up my arm.

"Are you going to be alright here?" I say, jumping up on my feet. "I need to go find some clay soil."

Before I'd even finished my sentence, a small parachute arrived beside us all. I stare down at it in disbelief. Why couldn't Haymitchor their mentor have sent that earlier? Without bothering to see who's it is, I rip open the lid and I am greated with the sight of dirt.

I let out a small laugh, "Well we only need the moss." I say, letting out a sigh of relief I didn't know I had.

"There's a note on the back of the canister." Cato says, pointing to an area that I couldn't see.

One down, one to go. Head north and stay alive, H

"I'll come with you, it'll be easier as I know what I'm looking for." I say, "You'll be alright on your own?" I ask Cato.

I grab my backpack, bow and sling my quiver over my shoulder as Cato replies with a cocky yes. I lean down and place a kiss on his forehead.

"Where to the Fire Girl." Clove says bluntly.

"This way." I say, pointing in the direction north of us.

I feel guilty leaving Cato behind, even though he most probably will be alright. I'd much rather have him with me, walking beside me, making jokes about the daft things I've said. I'd give anything for it to be him I was walking with rather than Clove.

The silence between us is uncomfortable. We both keep awkwardly looking up and around, neither one of us speaking. We haven't spoken directly to eachother, other than about Cato, since our last exchange. Is this how it's going to be for now?

I don't know how long we've been walking, but it feels like hours. My feet are beginning to ache and are hot from being enclosed. I want to stop, but I also don't want to give Clove the satisfaction, instead I make myself push on.

A snapping of a twig high above us makes us both stop and look up.

"It's probably just a bird." I say, not bothered about the noise.

"It was too loud a noise for it to be a bird." she says, still looking up. Her eyes narrow, trying to force herself to make sense of the noise.

The blinding light from the sun makes it difficult to see high in the tree tops. My eyes automatically begin to skwint. A small lump sticks out from the side of the thin bark.

Clove reaches to her belt and draws out her knife and throws it into the lump 20 foot above us.

A scream pierces the silent atmosphere and a little girl loses her balance and falls from the trees clutches.

I feel sick as I turn my head away and hear the sound of her body meeting the earth beneath her.

A cannon sounds.

* * *

**I really liked Snow's speech on why they have the games instead of killing 24 children in the movie, so I thought it should be included ;-)**

**I didn't really know how (and if I'm honest want) to kill Rue. This seemed like the easiest way, obviously Katniss won't be as destort as she was in the original, since she never made an alliance with her. However I think I may plan on her being a little guilty, after all Rue's only 12. **

**I'm sorry if this chapters not very good, but yeah i don't know:/I'm also sorry it's shorter than the previous ones :( I don't know what's up with me lately:( **

**Oh by the way, clay is actually used to draw out infections, and as the leaves that Rue gave Katniss (and since Katniss never got healed by Rue) weren't named, I decided to make my own remedy up :) ok so, please review! **


	17. Chapter 17: Sacrifice

**Hiya! I'm sorry for taking a while with this, wanted to make it good for you all haha! Have fun reading!**

* * *

Chapter 17: Sacrifice

No one can prepare you for what you have to face in the arena. No amount of training can get your mind ready for the tragedy that waits. Innocent people being killed to thrill an audience of thousands. Bets are made on who will make it out alive, who will kill the most; bets are even made on how those people die.

60-1 was her odds and Clove made sure, that the odds will never be in her favour.

A 12-year-old lost her life because of the very people she was taught to worship at school.

The guilt I feel is nothing compared to the hatred that is boiling in my blood. I am no longer going to be a part of their games.

"Let's go. We need to get this plant and get back to Cato." I say.

The hostility around us both grows stronger now. Clove isn't used to taking orders from anyone other than Cato. I break out into a jog, wanting to get to wherever we need to be faster. My eyes constantly flicker up and down. Always searching. The amount of near misses with trees I've had is embarrassing. I can almost hear Gale making a big joke out of it all.

"Katniss. What does this grass even look like?" Clove asks, her breathing comes out in pants. I don't know how long we've jogged, but it feels like forever.

"Moss." I correct her, "It's green underneath and blue on top." I say.

I slow down and catch my breath. _Is it even in here? _For the amount of time we've been in here, and I'm not even sure how long that is, I've seen no sign of the moss. There are fields of it back home. The easiest healing aid to get hold of. _Would they have taken it out just to spite us?_

"I say we search for another hour and then go back."

"Yeah." I mumble my response.

The bright noon sunshine bounces off the floor in an unnatural way. Tiny beads of sweat appear on my forearms and I have to undo my jacket to stop myself overheating. I don't say anything when Clove breaks into an unannounced run. I do nothing but follow.

I let out a sigh of relief when she stops running and stands in a small area covered in green moss that is blue on top. The smile that spreads across her face, as well as glee, lets me know we've done it.

"How much do we need?" she asks, taking out her knife and cutting away at the moss.

"Three or four handfuls?" I question. It's more of a question to myself, will this be enough? We busy ourselves for a few minutes, collecting the moss and stuffing it in our backpacks.

The run back doesn't seem to take that long. A small sense of achievement washes over the both of us, making the distance we have to cover seem like nothing at all. The temperature begins to cool making running easier. A small light from a fire tells us what we already know, _we're nearly there!_

Immediately I notice something is up. Cato doesn't even bother to reach over to his sword when we loudly emerge through the trees. Instead he lies by the fire, face illuminated by the soft orange glow, breathing heavily.

"Are you gonna patch me up then Fire Girl?" he forces out, his voice is cracked. I try not to show the guilt I feel for leaving him alone. Even if it was for just one day. I rush over and squat down beside him. The dressing around his thigh is a darkened red from the dried blood. Dirt and grit cover the white parts of the bandage that the blood hasn't already seeped on. Clove sets her backpack down near my right leg and stares blankly at Cato. With shaking hands I untie his dressing. The smell of rotting flesh makes my stomach heave; however, I force myself to show no sign of discomfort on my face.

"Can you fill the water bottles up for me please?" I ask Clove.

Wordlessly she gets up and does as I've asked.

"You must love this." Cato says, trying to smirk.

"Anything but." I grimace.

"You're doing a good job." He laughs, "Not being sick because of the smell is a great achievement."

"Shut up and be ill." I snap at him with a smile.

When Clove passes me one of the water bottles I realise, that actually, I have no clue what I have to do. In my head I recall back to what I've seen mother do.

She always starts off by cleaning any wound up, washing her hands before to prevent any further infection.

I rub off the mud that has clung to my hands before pouring the water over the ghastly cut. The diluted blood and water drips out of the flesh and down his thighs. Clove passes me a spare piece of clean bandage and I carefully wipe away the rest of the water. All the while, Cato involuntarily lets out quiet groans of pain.

I reach over into my backpack and collect a few handfuls of the 'special' moss. All I can remember mother ever doing is placing them in the wound and changing them every few minutes. I copy my memories and place a handful into the flesh. Within minutes liquid pus is draining out the sides, the sight makes my stomach turn.

Try as I might, I cannot keep the grimace appearing on my face as I change the moss.

"Katniss, you're doing great." Cato says. I look up at him, knowing my face must be a sickly shade of green.

"I'm really not good at this. I'm not my mother, or Prim. I hate pus." I say, "Euh!" I allow myself to let out a groan as I rinse out his wound and apply the second round of moss.

"Then how do you hunt?" he asks.

"Trust me; killing things is a lot easier." I said.

Cato lets out a small laugh, "Yes, that I can understand." he says.

After three applications and what seems like a bucket full of pus, the wound does look better.

"Clove, we must have something to take his temperature down." I say. We have a basic first aid kit; surely that type of medicine is classed as basic.

"Only these pills." she says, holding them out on her palms, "But we only have 6 of them, and both Cato and I know they're not very effective." she continues.

"Well they're better than nothing at all." I say. "Swallow them." I say to Cato, and he obediently takes the medicine.

For the next few minutes I sit back and begin adding water to the canister of clay soil. The thick grey paste feels cool on my finger tips. Clove quickly washes out the second round of moss and pus that has collected, and then washes the wound out again. I don't want to touch the infected flesh, but I know that I have to. I wash my hands again, to try to help keep out any infections, and begin to spread on the paste with my fingers touching the wound as little as possible.

"Well Dr Everdeen, I think it's working." Cato says with a small smile on his face. I lean up and place a kiss on his forehead. His skin doesn't burn my lips on contact; in fact, his skin doesn't feel very hot at all. To be sure, I place my palm across his forehead and let out a sigh of relief.

"Well something is working at least." I say.

"We should get some sleep now, it's getting late and there's no point hunting anyone with him like this." Clove says.

Silently both Clove and I get out sleeping bags, I throw mine to Cato how catches it effortlessly. He looks a lot stronger than he did before.

"Katniss get some sleep; I'll go on watch for the night." Clove says.

The sound of a mockingjay call wakes me from my peaceful sleep. To my right, Clove is leant up against the bark of a tree: fast asleep.

"Rise and shine fire girl."Cato's voice laughs to me from my right.

I turn to see him, a smile crossing my lips. "How's your leg then?" I ask.

"I dunno." He mutters beneath his breath.

Slowly I get out of my sleeping bag and walk over to him. "Let me see?" I say as I sit down beside him.

Cato somehow manages to reposition himself in his sleeping bag so that only his leg is sticking out. Immediately it is clear that the wound is worse. There is no more pus evident, but the swelling has increased and tiny red streaks starting to crawl up his leg. Blood poisoning. Unchecked, it will kill him for sure. Clay soil and moss won't make any effect on it. Only something from the Capitol's vast collection of advanced medical knowledge could help Cato now. Not even my mother could do anything to help him.

I can't imagine the cost of such life saving medicine. If Haymitch and Cato's mentor pooled every donation from every sponsor would we have enough? I doubt it. Gifts go up in price the longer the Games continue. What buys a full course meal on the first day buys a cracker on day ten. The price of the medicine Cato needs would have been premium from day one. We have no chance now.

"Well the pus has gone." I say, trying to hide the sadness in my voice.

"Well, at least that's one thing down." He laughs.

Cato takes me by surprise and grabs my waist, picking me up and making me hover over him. I blush at the position he has caused us to be in. I place my hands either side of his face and lean down on them. He reaches up and places his lips on my own. Our mouths mould together, each fighting for dominance. Even though I'm finding it hard to breathe, I don't want to stop. Death by kissing Cato. Any girls dream.

The sound of the trumpets startles me, and I literally fall on top of Cato. Claudius Templesmith is inviting us to a feast. We don't need to go, but I know that Clove and Cato will take this opportunity to kill the remaining two tributes left. Two tributes, is that all that's left? I look down at Cato; he doesn't say anything but he knows I know what he's thinking.

"Now hold on. Some of you may be declining the invitation, knowing it may be a risk too far; but, this is no ordinary feast. Each of you needs something. Desperately. And we plan on being generous hosts." Claudius Templesmith says.

I roll off Cato and turn to see Clove, who has now stood up, silently agreeing with our eyes that this is our chance to heal Cato for good.

"Each of you will find that something in a backpack, marked with your district number, at the Cornucopia at noon today. Think hard about refusing us, for some of you this is your last chance." Claudius says. The trumpets sound once again and then nothing.

Clove walks over to us, her sleeping bag already packed into her backpack. "My guess is someone else, other than Cato, needs something expensive. Most likely Thresh. They wouldn't want their best fighters dying of a cause other than each other." She laughs.

I quickly walk back to my sleeping bag and pack it, throwing my backpack and quiver over my shoulder. "Are you well enough?" I say as I pick up my bow.

"I can walk for two hours if that's what you mean." Cato grunts.

Usually a trip to the Cornucopia would only take half an hour, but as we can't run like usual, we will be cutting it close to noon when we arrive.

Along the way, we find no sign of another tribute. No snap of a twig, no foot print on the ground. At the edge of the main clearing Clove begins to slow down. She's slipped into a leadership role now that Cato is less able. "So if Cato stays hidden, Katniss runs in for the bags and I'll take out anyone who goes in after you?" she says.

We find somewhere for Cato to stay, a large bush gives him the perfect cover from the other side but still allows him to see through to the cornucopia.

The most obvious change to the Cornucopia is the massive pile of supplies has disappeared. The ground looks fresh once more; no ugly brown mounds plopped in random places. The Capitol has somehow managed to take away any evidence of the mines, and in the process, taken away the main thing keeping everyone alive. Now that the food has gone, those who don't know how to hunt or gather are doomed.

As soon as the sun sets overhead, the bright light bouncing off the Cornucopia, there is a disturbance on the plain. The ground before the mouth if the horn splits in two and a round table with a snowy white cloth rises into the arena. On the table sits four backpacks, two large ones with the numbers _5 _and _11_, a medium-sized one with the number _12_, and a tiny one that I could most probably fit around my wrist, which is marked with the number _2_.

Clove gives me a small nod, and I dart out to the Cornucopia. I can sense the emergence of danger before I can see it. To my left I can hear a whizzing sound and I am able to deflect the knife with my bow. I turn, drawing back the bowstring, and send an arrow towards the red-headed tribute from 5. However she turns just in time, able to avoid any hit.

I am at the table now; I have to pause so that I don't topple over it. I realise the immediate danger I have put myself in, I turn around and see the two knives flying towards me. Everything is happening so fast but I feel as though it is all happening in slow motion. I can see every turn of the blades, every centimetre that they are getting closer.

I close my eyes, praying that by doing so whatever pain I will be in will be easier to manage. Suddenly the air is knocked out of me and I am sent crashing into the table, the very thing I paused at to avoid this happening. I pull myself up quickly, wanting to know exactly what happened.

The tribute from 5 has set off sprinting towards the other side of the arena, where we have never been. Clove stands hunched over, clutching something I cannot see. Cato is already sprinting towards us both.

Something is wrong.

In a matter of seconds I am up and sprinting round to face Clove. She has fallen to the floor, her body rolled onto one side. Her body is curved around a deadly looking knife which is sticking out her abdomen.

Cato is stood opposite me, staring down at her. "Clove?" he whispers.

He kneels down by her head and pulls it onto his lap, stroking her hair softly.

"Thank you." I say; for I don't want her to die without knowing that I know the sacrifice she made for me. I crouch down beside her as well and take the knife out from her stomach.

"We'll do this for you Clove." Cato murmurs into her ear.

Clove smiles before closing her eyes and taking her last breath.

A singe tear streams down Cato's face which he wipes off his face when the canon sounds.

"I don't want to leave her." He says.

"We have to." I say. I reach over and take his hands in my own, giving it an encouraging squeeze.

He takes his hand out of my own and carefully places Clove's head on the ground. Then, he places both her arms in a cross across her body, like they do in formal burials at home.

I place the three middle fingers of my left hand against my lips and hold them out in Clove's direction. Cato looks at me confused; of course he and anyone who's not from District 12 will most probably not know the significance of the gesture. However, I cannot let Clove's sacrifice go unnoticed.

"Are you ready?" I say.

He grabs my hand in his and begins to walk slowly out of the clearing. We walk in silence until we come across the bush that Cato was hidden behind. I stop and throw both of the backpacks that I collected onto the floor. I pick up the smallest one again and cut open the clasp. One slim box containing one hypodermic needle is inside. Without hesitating I jam the needle into Cato's arm and slowly press down on the plunger.

When I remove it he passes me the other backpack. It is bigger than the other one; I cut open the clasp and am greeted with the sight of a large bowl of fish soup and two small pieces of paper.

Immediately my hands grab the pieces of paper, I unfold them and begin to read.

**If I could bet, I'd still be betting on you- Cinna**

**Good job sweetheart, stay alive- H**

When I look up Cato has already begun to eat some of the soup. "Couldn't wait huh?" I laugh.

"The quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach." He mutters.

I let him finish the soup himself, I can easily go and get something to eat. "Everything's going to be alright." I say, shuffling myself towards him.

He grabs me quickly and pulls me into his lap snaking his arms around my waist. He places his lips against my own. For a moment nothing is around us, it's only me and him in the world. Now I realise.

He needs me as much as I need him.

* * *

**Cheers for reading! So yes, this is defiantly coming to an end soon, I've got about 4 more chapters to write and then fini! I want to thank all of you that have read and reviewed, and if you haven't reviewed, WHY NOT?;)  
**


	18. Chapter 18: Left with thoughts

**Well hey! It's been a while hasn't it?! I'm sorry about that, here's the chapter I know you are all dying for (you guys are really just too obvious;) )**

* * *

Chapter 18: left with thoughts

The coolness of the morning breeze wakes me up from a dreamless sleep. Cato is lying beside me, looking more peaceful than ever. I take a look at his wound, carefully unwrapping the bandage.

Quickly I rub my eyes, thinking that I have imagined what I've seen. There are no red lines forming a maze around his wound anymore. No pus is leaking out. The only evidence that something happened is the shallow gash in his leg.

"Cato. Wake up." I say, shaking him lightly.

He mimics pulling the covers over his head signalling he wants more sleep, just like Prim does at home. I laugh at him when he suddenly sits up.

"Did you miss your bed." I ask with a smirk.

"Oh shut up." he mutters.

"You're legs practically healed." I say gesturing down towards it.

Cato takes a few minutes to fully look at it, stroking the skin where the red maze used to be.

"Pack the sleeping bags, we've got to hunt." he says with a look of determination across his face.

I know secretly that he doesn't really mean we need to hunt, he means it's time to avenge Clove.

"We don't even know where she is Cato." I sigh. I collect up the two sleeping bags and place them into my backpack.

"I'm on about 11. He's going to be in the wheat fields, that's the closest environment to his own District. He knows what to do in it." Cato says, his leader personality taking over him.

For the past two days it had been nice. Not because Cato had been ill but because, other than Rue, we hadn't killed anyone. In a weird way I could almost imagine it being like the times when Gale and I have been stuck on the other side of the fence because the electricity had turned back on. Not that that ever happened much.

"Let's go get this over." I mutter.

"You're not coming." he says sternly.

I look at him with crossed eyebrows, "Yes I am." I state.

"You could get hurt, I don't know how powerful he is. He scored a 10." Cato sighs.

"It's a wheat field right? Let me set it alight in the centre, he'll either die inside or have to come out." I plead.

"It's surrounded by the woods, we have no guarantee he'll come out where we are." Cato explains. "You could just say that you're worried." he laughs at me with a smile.

"You could just let me come." I glare at him. "Two is better than one, and anyway with me coming we wouldn't need to even get close to him. I could take him out easily."

"And deprive them of their spectacular fight, come off it Katniss. This is the one everyone's been waiting for. Everyone's waiting for me and him to fight to the death. Your way would be boring." his remark makes me glare at him even harder. Does he not want to be safe?

"I can't lose you."

"Good job you won't be then." he says, he crosses the small distance between us and places a gentle kiss on my forehead whilst tucking in a stray stand of hair behind my ear.

I let out an audible sigh and let my face fall. He can see how much I hate this situation, yet I am powerless against him.

"You are so bloody stubborn." I say as I punch him in his chest.

He clutches where my fist made contact and pretends that it hurt. I know it didn't from the smile on his face, however he knows what the intention was.

"Hurting me is just going to make it harder for me to kill him." he laughs.

"Shut up and let's go." I say angrily.

Neither of us bother to hide the sounds of our footsteps. If they want to come, let them. At least that way I'd get to help.

"You're still not coming, you might as well have stayed there." Cato says.

"I'm coming to the cornucopia. If you're not back before dark I'm coming to find you." I say. "There is no compromise." I say stubbornly.

"Fine."

The route we take there is like second nature now. I know all the different trees, how far we have left. After a few minutes the tree begin to thin out and the clearing becomes easier to make out. The sun reflects off the cornucopia, making it almost too bright to see.

Cato stops momentarily at the edge. His face shows the hurt I know he is going through. I know that he is replaying the events through his head, for I am as well. I follow his eyes to the sight I know he is staring at. The green grass looks untouched as if nothing had happened there. The long table has disappeared leaving no evidence of it ever being real. Except we both know it was.

I reach down and lace my fingers through his, giving them a small squeeze for comfort. When I release his hand he starts to walk again. His face returns to the solitude it was before he stopped.

"Stay here." he says when we reach the centre which the cornucopia is set.

"Yes." I say. He turns his back to me and walks towards the place we've never been to before. The unfamiliar territory claimed by someone who is just as equally matched as him.

I move around to the tail and grip onto the groves in the metal plates. The heat from the sun has made them almost too hot to hold onto, but I do. I climb to the top quickly. Gale has often described me as a squirrel because I can scurry up trees as quick as lightning. I don't bother to sit down on the roof until I lay down one of the sleeping bags, I know that it will be too hot. A burnt bum is defiantly something I don't want.

Staying alone is something I've never liked. Being alone with nothing but thoughts to keep me company worries me. How am I supposed to stay here knowing that Cato could be getting hurt? Would he have let Clove come with him if it had been just them? I don't think Cato would have had much choice, I can hardly see Clove staying out of a fight. Mentally I kick myself for not being as stubborn as him. I should be there, next to him. Who cares if the Capitol don't get the fight that they want? They've still got their star-crossed lovers to fawn over. I wonder if Thresh knows that Cato is coming for him. Or does he think, like I did, that District 5 will be first. For Cato's sake I hope he does. At least then he'll have an advantage.

I remove my quiver and place it down beside me, before laying down completely and looking up at the sky. The sun has moved now- behind some clouds- meaning I can stare up without having to squint. The bright blue is intercepted at points with big white fluffy clouds. This is my favourite type of sky. A clear blue sky looks so plain and boring. It always looks so ugly when we see it back home in the Seam. The white clouds give something to look at.

I don't know how long I've spent thinking and looking, but I can't stop my eyelids from closing. Falling asleep now, while I'm peaceful seems like the best thing to do. Besides when I awake, he might be back. It takes little time for the black unconsciousness to great me, however I do nothing to stop it. The warmth from the metal radiates from underneath me keeping me warm without having to be under any coverings. I can feel the smile on my face but do absolutely nothing to remove it. So what if people see my emotions now? I've been to hell and back haven't I? I deserve what little happiness I can get from this place.

What seemed like only minutes turned out to be in fact hours. The sky has changed from a blue and white to pink and purple. Dusk. Why is Cato not back?

I sit up on my elbows and look around. Surely if he was back he would have woken me. In answer to my agonising wait the Capitol give me the only clue. The sound of the cannon fills my ears just as quickly as the fear does in my gut.

I sit up properly, crossing my legs like I am back in school again. It must be at least 6 o'clock, meaning I will have to wait another two hours before I know for defiant that the cannon was not for him. It can't have been.

"Haymitch?" I ask quietly. I know that he will hear me. Time passes but nothing appears. Have the Capitol put the prices up sky-high just because they know I will turn to him for an answer. Are they doing this just to spite me, again?

I sit worried for what seems like a lifetime. The sickening feeling in my stomach increase every minute I get nearer to finding out the truth. Surely it's been two hours? They can't not put the fallen up.

The anthem begins and my breathing rises. I can do nothing to slow down my heart rate. "Please." I whisper.

The monotonous voice says "The fallen." before a holographic image shows the portrait of him.

Thresh.

I do nothing to stop the tears of relief that fall down my cheeks. I place my head into my hands, breathing in and out slowly. Trying to calm down my frantic heart.

Without bothering to pick up the sleeping bag I stand up and throw my quiver over my shoulder hastily. I pick up my bow and walk over to a sloping side of the cornucopia. Quickly I throw myself down it, too quickly as I end up a crumpled mess at the bottom. But I do not care. Only one person stops me from going home.

I lean against the side. Will it be any good for me to find him? What if we pass each other in the wheat but don't hear or see each other?

The sound of something to my left alerts me. I won't have to look for him after all.

I look to my left at the same time a knife lodges itself in the metal ridge one centimetre from my face.

* * *

**I'm sorry, it is just basically a filler. Nothing major happens I know. Next chapters going to be exciting hey;) three guesses who the knife belongs too!;) (hardest question possible, I know I know) well I can tell you now, there's only a maximum of four chapters left, so not long now guys :-) (if you want a sequel, tell me otherwise I'll assume you're all content with this and I'll start another idea.) PLEASE REVIEW CHEERS x  
****  
**


	19. Chapter 19: Taunt Me

**Well hey my little darlings! Isn't this weird? Twupdate tea practically in the same week! You lucky people! For the Africans and for All-Smiles.. (who I hope hasn't been stabbed by Frank as she gives me my favourite type of long reviews)**

* * *

Chapter 19: Taunt Me

The quickness of the events awakens my reflex system. For ages this part of me has been stationary. My whole time in the arena I have never had to do something by myself. Is this what the Capitol want? A showdown between the last two females? A fight to the death for the final place.

Without even having to think my bow is loaded and aimed at her heart. Foxface must know this, as she doesn't attempt to move. Instead she flexes her wrist, which grabs my attention, to show me the deadly blade that is also aimed towards me.

A stalemate.

Neither one of us can attack, for the other will just release our weapon and try to dodge the oncoming one. Either we both die or we both lose our weapons.

The only thing that keeps me happy is knowing that in fact, I have the upper hand here. By the looks of things, Foxface only has one knife left. Which is in fact aimed towards me. And even if she did have another knife, she wouldn't have enough time to retrieve it and dodge the oncoming arrow. I know now that she will not be the one to break this stalemate, as she knows as?

She lets out a cold, cruel snigger. "How are things?" she asks mockingly.

"Wonderful." I spit.

My muscles are strained so tightly they feel like they may snap at any moment. My mouth aches from the grimace that has involuntarily set across my face.

"Does he love you?" Foxface asks a taunting smile on her face. "Has he ever mentioned it?"

I don't answer, for what can I say? 'No he's never said it, but I'm sure he does'? That would go down well. I choose to stay in silence.

"Oh so he hasn't then." Her voice reminds me of the popular school girl. The kind of person that seeks pleasure out of others discomfort.

"That is merely what you're assuming." I retort.

"You're lack of an answer yet again just proves me right, my dear." She says coldly.

"I see no reason to. For what does it concern you?"

"I'm just simply trying to figure out the best way to hurt him once I'm through with you." She says.

"Think long and hard then. Maybe you'll get to try it in another life." I snap.

"Do you really think someone like him could love you? Do you really think that someone who's trained to win for their entire life will want to share a victory?" she flexes her wrist again.

My arms begin to slack from holding up my bow for such a long time. From the sight of her face, her arms are beginning to ache too. However neither one of us wants to be the first to break.

"Yes I do." I say. "He's changed. He's not the person who came into the arena. He's grown up, knows things that he didn't before."

The movement of a bush grabs my attention. In the setting sun I have to strain my eyes to make out what the shadow is. My whole body feels the relief as soon as my eyes see him. Before I can do anything though, he brings his fingers to his lips. _Don't say anything _he tells me silently.

"Do you really think you'll have a chance against him when you kill me?" I ask her. Keeping her talking whilst Cato advances towards us slowly.

"I have an equal chance. My bet is that he's injured somehow from his long tiring fight with that boy."

"After what you did to Clove? You won't last a second with him. Injured or not." I laugh at her, this time it is me that is taunting.

"Clove would still be alive if you hadn't have been so stupid as to not look behind you." She snaps back. "But then Careers do normally die from being too arogant" she states.

"I am from District 12, I haven't trained for this. I am not a career!" I yell at her.

"You may not have trained like one, but you certainly act like one." she replies snidely.

I don't say anything, instead I wait the last few more seconds until Cato is near enough. Foxface stops laughing and sets her lips into a triumphant smile.

Cato grabs her from behind, taking her completely by surprise, and pulls her into a headlock. She grabs at his arms violently; her knife makes shallow cuts into his skin as she struggles. She claws at him, weaker now, as if confused on whether it's more important to struggle or breathe. Cato doesn't seem fased by the scarlet blood dripping down his arm. This must be nothing compared to what he has been through.

Foxface begins to make chocking sounds. I give Cato a stern look. Even she doesn't deserve to die slowly. I shake my head at him and immediately he snaps her neck.

Cato chucks her body to the ground at the same time I throw my bow to the floor.

I run to him, crashing into him. I hear the sound of air escaping his body but I don't care. And neither does he. Instead he laughs quietly into my ear. His arms wrap round me pulling my body tight into his. Just as he places a comforting kiss on the top of my head Claudius Templesmith's voice booms into the arena.

"Greetings to the final contestants of the seventy-forth Hunger Games! The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winer may be allowed." he says, "Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour."

There's a small burst of static then nothing more. I stare up at Cato in disbelief as the truth sinks in. They never intended us to both live. This had all been devised by the Gamemakers to guarantee the most dramatic showdown in history. And like fools, we bought into it.

Suddenly the darkness that had set over us disappears. Instead we are welcomed with what can only be a noon sun. The brightness of it illuminates everything. The area where Foxface has been thrown splits in two and her body lowers down. Eventually a clean area of grass replaces her.

"They need the perfect lighting and setting for their finale." I mutter.

Cato steps away from me. "You know, if you think about it, it's not actually that surprising." he says softly.

His hands rest on the two small but deadly knives in his belt. _Was Foxface right?_

"Katniss, turn around." he says.

Curiously I do as he says. _Can he not even look at me when he does it? _

"Do you remember how we first met?" he asks.

"Yes, you tried to kill me with a spear." I say, still turned around.

Cafo let's out a hearty laugh, "Can you remember what you said?" he says between laughs.

_What does he mean? _Before I can ask him how this is relevant he continues.

"I just don't like people throwing things at me when my back is turned." he quotes.

Instantly I remember the whole moment.

_As I go to pull the blade out a knife lodges itself into the dummy just above my hand. _

_"Who the bloody hell did that?" I growl, indignation written all over my face. It wasn't until I saw the boy from last night jog up to retrieve the knife he'd just thrown at me that I realised who I was talking to. _

_"Sorry 12, did I scare you?" the boy answers, a smirk coming across his face._

_"No, I just don't like people throwing things at me when my back is turned" I retort, grabbing my own knife out of the dummy and returning to the throwing area._

_"Well you'd better get used to it, I don't think people really bother with manners in the arena" he shoots back following me._

_"Well maybe they should, manners cost nothing" I reply acoustically._

_"You're right they don't. I'll make you a deal if you want" he says whilst placing his knife back on the rack._

_"And what deal is that?" I ask, placing my own knife back on the rack next to his._

_"I promise to not kill you when your back is turned" he says, and picks up a spear his eyes examining the metal shaft, "I wouldn't want to be impolite"_

A light thud causes me to subconsciously look to my left. Sticking out from the ground is the knife that was, moments ago, in Cato's belt.

"I promise to not kill you when your back is turned." he echoes the memory. I don't have to be facing him to know the smirk that is across his face.

Still keeping my back towards him I retrieve the single knife from the ground. Quickly I cross over to the Cornucopia and pull out, with a lot of effort needed, the knife from the side of it.

I turn and recross the distance between us. A mixture of curiosity, anxiousness and worry wipes the smirk off his face.

"I can't live without you." I say, looking up at him. I place one of the knives into his hands. The other one I turn so that the blade is pointing towards my abdomen.

Cato sees what I am doing and goes to knock the blade out of my hands. Subtly I shake my head. Something in him must tell him of my plan as he mimics my actions.

"On three." he says softly, leaning towards me to place a delicate kiss on my lips.

"One." I count.

"Two." he says. We hold out the knives away from our bodies dramatically so that anyone that couldn't see before can now.

"Thr-" I begin but I am cut off by the panicked cries of Claudius Templesmith.

"Stop! Stop!" he shouts. "Ladies and Gentleman may I present to you, the victors of the seventy-forth Hunger Games!"

Immediately we both drop the knives and crash our bodies into eachother desperately.

"I love you." he whispers into my ear.

* * *

**Dun dun dun! I'm such a cutie at times. I'm sorry that this was predictable and cheesy but do you know what, sometimes cheese is good (unless you're intolerant to it like I am) thank you to my lovely reviews, Alic W you do cheer me up! All-smiles thank you my darling for being reliable for good input and funniness, REVIEW SOME MORE? I totally think 150 by the end of this story is doable;) **


	20. Chapter 20: Now It Starts

**Hey! TWO UPDATES TWO DAYS IN A ROW AREN'T YOU LUCKY PEOPLE! I am just fab;-) thank you to all those that reviewed, viewed, even just glanced. It means a lot to me. Cheers for sticking by and reading it, because this does actually feel like my baby! haha, right sorry I'm babbling on, on with the next chapter.. **

* * *

Chapter 20: Now It Starts

"We did it." I say.

I can see his lips moving in reply, but I can't hear him over the roar of the crowd in the Capitol they're playing live over the speakers.

The hovercraft appears overhead and two ladders drop down. Cato holds out his hand to me and I gratefully in twine my fingers through his. We keep our hands together as we each place a foot on the first rung of the ladder. The electric current freezes us in place. As my eyes were looking down when we were froze, I watch the cornucopia grow smaller in size as we are lifted up into the hovercraft.

Doctors dressed in white, masked faces, lead us both into a room. A glass door closes, locking us in. For a moment I forget that we're out of the Games and I see the doctors that lead us in here as just another threat. One more thing designed by the Gamemakers to kill us. Petrified I lunge out to the door, but I am caught by a pair of strong arms.

I startle when I catch someone staring at me. Wild eyes, hollow cheeks, hair in a tangled mat. Only when I look beyond the person and see the dirty strong arms wrapped around them do I realise that it's me.

Cato stares at me through our reflection. His hair only slightly matted, his cheeks only a tiny bit slimmer.

The only thing we have in common is the exhausted expression that is clear across our faces.

I catch a glimpse of pink hair- Effie, she's come to see me- when the needle jabs me from behind.

The entire ceiling glows with a soft yellow light, allowing me to see that I'm in a room that contains just my bed. No doors or windows. I am completely isolated. The air smells of something antiseptic. My right arm has several tubes that extend into the wall behind me. The bedclothes are the only thing covering me from the presumably cold air.

I tentatively lift my left hand above the cover. Not only has it been scrubbed clean, the nails are filed in perfect ovals, the scars from the burns less prominent. I touch my cheek, my lips, my silken hair.

I try to sit up, but some sort of restraining band around my waist keeps me from rising more that a couple of centimetres. Automatically I panic, I start to pull myself up and wriggle my way free. During my panic, I almost miss a portion of the wall slide open and in step an Avox.

She walks in carrying a silver tray. On top of the tray sits a single bowl and a glass. She sets the tray on my thighs and presses a button that raises me to a sitting position. While she adjusts my pillow, I decide to ask her just one question. I say it out loud, as clearly as my voice will allow, "Is Cato alright?" She gives me a nod as she puts the spoon in my hand.

As the Avox leaves, the door closes behind her soundlessly. I look down at the tray. A bowl of clear broth and a glass of water. Is this it? I think grouchily. Did I not just win the Hunger Games? Shouldn't my meal be a little more spectacular. But even so, I find it difficult to finish the meal. I begin to wonder how long I've been out. I didn't have a problem eating a full breakfast the last morning in the arena.

Usually there's a few days between the end of the Games and the presentation of the victor in order for them to put the mess of a person back together again. Somewhere Cinna will be organising and making my wardrobe for the public appearances. Haymitch and Effie will be arranging the banquet for my sponsors, reviewing the questions for my final interview. Back home District 12 will be in chaos whilst the try to organise the homecoming celebrations for myself.

I wonder how much excitement is brewing in the Capitol. Two victors has never been allowed before. We are an anomaly to the perfect world they're trying to create.

For ages I slip in and out of consciousness. Eventually when I awake I can feel that nothing is holding me to the bed. Slowly I raise myself into a sitting position. I have to stretch my legs a couple of times before I dare to place any weight onto them. Laying on a small white table to the side of the bed is an outfit. A complete copy of what all the tributes wore in the arena. I get dressed in less than a minute. The prospect of seeing everyone again makes even tedious tasks possible.

I walk towards where I can remember the Avox entering and exiting. Suddenly the door slides open and I step into a deserted hall. The hall has no other doors or window, except I know that it must. They must be doors like mine. Behind one must be Cato.

"Katniss." I hear a voice say loudly. Immediately I turn around. I know that it isn't him, as the voice is that of a female. Effie.

They are all there waiting in a large room that must have just been revealed- Effie, Haymitch and Cinna. My feet and legs don't need to be told what to do. I take off without any hesitation. I do not care that this is most likely being filmed.

I launch myself into Haymitch's arms, surprising everyone including myself. "Nice job sweetheart!" he whispers to me. It's the first time he's congratulated me where I haven't felt that any of it has been remotely sarcastic. Effie's in too much of a state to talk, she just keeps smiling and patting me soothingly on the back.

"Well, at least if I would have betted I'd be getting a hefty payment." Cinna laughs to me, squeezing me so tightly I almost forget to breathe.

"Where's Cato?" I say to Haymitch.

"You'll see him tonight, they said they want your reunion live." says Haymitch. "Or at least I think they did, I wasn't listening." he mumbles quietly.

"Come with me Katniss, I need to get you ready." Cinna says.

Cinna wraps a protective arm across my shoulders and leads me away. We go down a few passages and to an elevator that leads to the lobby of the Training Centre. The windows of the lobby are darkened and only a handful of guards are on duty. We ride up to the twelfth floor, although I wish that we could stop off quickly at the second. I could still act like I hadn't seen him.

When the elevator doors open my prep team engulf me. Almost knocking me over in the process.

Cinna leads me first to the dining room so that I can eat. I ask for seconds but I am refused.

"They don't want it coming back up on stage!" Octavian says.

We go back to my room and although I am reluctant for him to leave, Cinna disappears while my prep team get me ready.

"Oh good they did you a full body polish." Flavius says a little enviously. "There's not a flaw left on you anymore."

When I look in the mirror though all that I can see is how skinny I've become. I mean, I've always been skinny because of where we live, but I can now count my ribs.

They take care of everything for me, shower settings, hair, nails and make-up. They chatter away constantly, only ever giving me enough time to mutter yes or a no. They're rattling on about the Games, but it's all about where they were when a specific event occurred. "I was still in bed when Peeta died."

I feel it instantly, the sharp tug in my stomach. Although I knew it would happen, the fact that it was by my own hands pains me.

Cinna comes in with what I assume to be my dress. I am thankful as his appearance interrupts my thoughts.

"Have you gone off the 'girl on fire' then?" I ask.

"You tell me." he replies, and slips it over my head. I immediately notice the padding over my breast, adding curves which the hunger has stolen from me. Even though I never really went hungry during the games, the smaller portions and active days has still stolen a lot.

"I know, but they wanted to alter you surgically. Haymitch fought with them for hours, this was the compromise." he explains when he hears my sigh.

I slip on the pair of leather sandals and turn to the mirror. I still am the 'girl on fire'. The fabric glows, giving the illusion of me being in candlelight.

"I look like a girl." I laugh. My hair has been kept lose, I have been given only natural make-up and I have no nail varnish or extra stuff added to me.

"I thought Cato might appreciate your innocence." Cinna smiles.

We take the elevator to the level we trained. It's tradition for the victor and their support team to rise from beneath the stage. First the prep team, followed by the escort, the stylist, the mentor and finally the victor. Only this year, with two victors the whole thing has had to be rethought. I am in a dimly lit area under the stage, placed on a freshly made metal plate that will obviously take me upwards. A makeshift wall has been placed ten metres away and I assume Cato is behind it.

I jump when Haymitch touches my shoulder. I am even more startled when he pulls me in for a hug. "Listen up. You're in trouble. Word is the Capitol are furious about you two showing them up in the arena. The one thing they can't stand is being laughed at, and you've made them the joke of Panem." says Haymitch.

"What do I do?" I ask whilst laughing like what Haymitch had said was the funniest thing in the world.

"For whatever reason, I don't know whether what happened in there was true, you are madly in love. The thought of losing him was too much. Got it sweetheart?" he says.

I nod. "It was true." I say quietly.

"The only thing that will get you through this is making it cheesy. Everything you did was because you love him. You was desperate, nothing in the world makes sence without him, understand?" he tucks a piece of my hair round my ear.

"Let the Games begin" I mutter grudgingly.

Haymitch mentions that it will begin in roughly five minutes and goes off to get in position.

I hear Caesar Flickerman greeting the audience. The crowd break into applause when both prep teams are presented. The Effie's introduced alongside Brutus. I can imagine a hostility between them, for they are both so unlike. Cinna receives a huge applause. His work has been fabulous, no doubt setting off a new Capitol trend. Finally Haymitch and Enobria are introduced.

Then finally, finally, I can feel the plate moving me up.

The light blinds me, and I take a moment to adjust to the noise and lighting. Then instinctively I look to my left. Cato is stood a few metres away from me, looking as perfect as ever. He smiles one of his genuine smiles and that's all it takes for me to run to him. He doesn't bother to meet me, instead he waits for me.

I fling myself onto him and feel myself being lifted off the ground. I wrap my legs around his waist and his strong arms wrap themselves around mine. The roar of the crowd goes wild. He's kissing me and the crowd start stopping their feet and literally go insane. Caesar taps Cato on the shoulder but Cato doesnt react. Instead he let's my legs fall back to the ground but continues to mould my body into his, kissing me all the while. The audience goes berserk.

Finally, Haymitch interrupts us and shoves us towards the victors chair- earning a collective laugh from the audience.

This year the chair has changed from a single to a love seat. Cato sits down first and I sit down beside him, wrap my fingers in his and lean against him. Automatically his arm goes around me.

Caesar makes a few more jokes and then it's time for the three hour show. I realise I am unprepared for this, I don't know how to watch tribute after tribute die again.

The first half hour focuses mainly on the pre-arena preparations: the reaping, the chariot rides, our training scores and our interviews. Once we're in the arena there's a detailed coverage of the bloodbath. I watch as Cato kills effortlessly. I am happy, it that's the right emotion, that I at least look like I don't want to kill people. Then the filmmakers basically alternate between deaths and the careers. The whole of Panem watches as Cato and I fall in love. They play out the full moment of when Cato sat in the clearing with nothing on. Instinctively I had forgotten all about that. Sighs of approval are heard from the females in the audience.

"They'll be hating you now." Cato leans down and whispers into my ear. I bury my head into his chest to hide the blush on my cheeks. I feel the rumble of his laughter vibrate through me.

The next thing they play in full is Peeta's death. I watch as I release an arrow and it goes straight into him. I let out a small choke and again bury my face into Cato. He prises me out and kisses me reassuringly, then wipes away a stray tear that falls down my cheek. I hope that Peeta's family know that I am sorry for this.

I am tempted to try and fall asleep, however I know that this won't look good. Instead I try and zone out.

Cato tense up next to me, and without looking I know it's up to the feast. I squeeze his hand and lean up to him to return the reassuring kiss.

They skip to the fight with Cato and Thresh. This is the only bit I am genuinely interested about. Thresh looks tired and helpless, yet he still manages to hold up a decent fight. I can tell that he must use a sickle a lot at home as he uses it as well as Cato a sword. I jump and wince every time Cato gets hit or nearly hit. Eventually though, Thresh is skewered by Cato's sword.

Immediately it flips to my stand off with Foxface. The audience hush each other when it gets to the point where Cato arrives. Then the whole place falls silent when he tells me to turn around. The moment with the knives has every one on the edge of their seats, even though they already know the outcome.

The film ends with Cato saying the words 'I love you.'

"I love you." he says softly to me, though suddenly his voice is magnified one hundred times louder.

"I love you." I smile. He leans down and places a delicate kiss on my lips to the soundtrack of a collective "aw" from the audience.

The anthem begins to play again and we all rise, Cato and I still with our hands entwined. President Snow takes to the stage with a little girl carrying a cushion with a single crown placed on top. You can hear the confusion across the crowd, whose head will he place it on?, until President Snow gives it a twist and it separated into two halves. He places the first around Cato's brow with a smile. He is still smiling when he places the second around my brow.

We bow and receive cheers, when finally Caesar bids the crowd goodnight and reminds them to tune in tomorrow for the final interview. Like they have a choice.

The lights go dark and instead of moving, Cato pulls me into a hug and kisses me.

* * *

**I've missed writing so much! I'm so excited because literally have two chapters max left on this story, then I get to write a completely (well sequel) new one! AND I HAVE THE WHOLE OF THE SIX WEEKS TO DO IT IN, which means more frequent every other day updates for my little chickens, oh dear! I've been calling people my chickens because it's what my English teacher does (he's great I absolutely adore him). I'm not going to lie, writing this was so much fun. The next chapter may be up tomorrow, I'm half way finished. It'll be up by Friday at the latest:) Thank you All-Smiles for your wonderful review, and to everyone that reviewed. If you could kindly do it again, I would appreciate it (and if you'd like to leave a long review I'll love you even more because they're my favourite) lots of love from me, Cato and Katniss x**


End file.
